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THE    DOOM 


OF   THE 


MAJORITY  oh  MANKIND. 


BY 


SAMUEL    J.    BARROWS. 


BOSTON: 

AMERICAN  UNITARIAN  ASSOCIATION. 

1891. 


^3f 


Copyright,  188S, 
By  American  Unitarian  Association. 


University  Press: 
John  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridge. 


/ 


PREFACE, 


The  great  discussions  in  theology,  both  in  England 
and  America,  during  the  last  few  years,  have  turned 
mainly  upon  two  points.  The  first  of  these  is  the 
relation  of  humanity  to  the  Future  Life.  In  England 
the  discussion  on  this  subject  was  powerfully  stim- 
ulated by  Canon  Farrar's  book,  "  Eternal  Hope."  In 
America  the  debate,  rekindled  by  this  book,  received 
a  new  direction  and  an  independent  impulse  from  the 
so-called  Andover  Controversy ;  one  result  of  which 
was  that  an  Orthodox  clergyman,  called  to  a  profes- 
sorship by  the  Trustees  of  that  institution,  was  denied 
confirmation  by  the  Board  of  Visitors,  because  of  his 
charitable  speculations  on  this  subject.  Candidates  for 
ordination  were  afterwards  excluded  from  Orthodox 
pulpits  for  the  same  reason.  A  conspicuous  feature 
in  this  discussion  has  related  to  the  destiny  of  those  — 
involving  the  great  majority  of  the  race  —  who  have 
no  opportunity  in  this  life  to  accept  or  even  to  become 
acquainted  with  the  Orthodox  theory  of  salvation. 
With  this  question  before  it,  the  American  Board,  at 
its  last  annual  missionary  meeting  at  Portland,  refused 
to  concede  that  the  heathen  might  have  a  probation 
after  death,  and  reafiirmed  the  motive  for  missionary 
work  to  be  the  necessity  of  saving  them  from  an  end- 
less hell. 


IV  PREFACE. 

The  second  great  subject  of  theological  discussion 
has  been  the  scientific  criticism  of  the  Bible.  The 
influence  of  Dutch  and  German  criticism  has  pene- 
trated to  the  very  centre  of  Calvinistic  strongholds. 

These  two  theological  questions  are  much  more 
closely  related  than  they  seem  to  be  at  first.  The 
Orthodox  estimate  of  the  Bible  as  an  infallible  book 
has  had  much  to  do  in  determining  what  view  shall 
be  taken  of  the  future  destiny  of  the  race.  It  was  a 
deep  conviction  of  the  close  relationship  of  these  two 
questions  which  led  Rev.  George  E.  Ellis,  D.D.,  of 
Boston,  to  affirm  in  a  public  address,  that  before 
Orthodoxy  could  revise  its  creeds,  it  must  revise  its 
estimate  of  the  Bible.  In  the  prolonged  discussion 
which  this  paper  awakened,  an  incidental  statement 
of  Dr.  Ellis,  that  certain  Scripture  texts  "  are  alleged 
as  certifying  that  the  vast  majority  of  the  human  race 
are  to  be  victims  of  endless  woe,"  was  challenged  by 
an  Orthodox  clergyman,  Rev.  J.  L.  Withrow,  D.D.,  of 
Park  Street  Church,  Boston,  who  characterized  it  as 
an  absolute  and  abominable  misrepresentation  of  Or- 
thodoxy. As  editor  of  the  "  Christian  Register,"  the 
writer  replied  at  length  in  the  columns  of  that  paper, 
aiming  to  fix  upon  Orthodoxy  the  responsibility  of 
teaching  this  doctrine  of  the  doom  of  the  majority  of 
mankind. 

This  debate,  and  the  questions  that  grew  out  of  it, 
have  furnished  the  material  for  this  book.  In  the  first 
three  chapters  the  evidence  presented  in  the  original 
article  has  been  largely  augmented,  especially  with 
reference  to  modern  authorities.  In  the  fourth  chap- 
ter important  admissions  and  criticisms  of  Evangelical 
writers  are  presented  concerning  the  moral  difficulties 


PREFACE.  V 

of  this  doctrine.  Attempted  mitigations,  and  features 
which  are  still  unrelieved  by  these  palliations,  are 
considered  in  succeeding  chapters ;  while  in  a  final 
chapter  attention  is  invited  to  what  seems  to  us  a 
more  promising  and,  indeed,  the  only  adequate 
solution. 

Two  things  have  become  evident  in  this  discussion. 
First,  that  Orthodoxy  is  not  wholly  ready  to  revise 
its  belief ;  and  secondly,  that  its  beliefs  are  constantly 
suffering  revision  without  its  consent.  The  tenacity, 
painfully  apparent,  with  which  Orthodox  bodies  hold 
to  ancient  standards  and  traditional  interpretations 
of  Scripture,  has  not  prevented  the  action  of  other 
solvents.  The  old  creeds  cannot  be  exposed  to  the 
atmosphere  of  to-day  without  disintegration.  The 
progress  of  science,  philosophy,  and  ethics  has  ren- 
dered progress  in  theology  imperative.  It  has  also 
become  evident  to  an  increasing  minority  of  Christians 
that  Orthodoxy  must  revise  its  teachings.  But  no  revis- 
ion will  satisfy  the  demands  of  an  enlightened  liberal 
thought  and  sentiment,  which  does  not  reconsider  and 
restate  the  relations  of  God  to  human  destiny,  and 
reafl&rm,  with  clarion  voice,  the  great  truth  that  "  in 
every  nation  he  that  feareth  God  and  worketh  right- 
eousness is  accepted  with  him,"  and  that  "as  many 
as  are  led  by  the  spirit  of  God,  these  are  the  sons  of 
God." 

No  apology  is  needed  for  any  warmth  and  earnest- 
ness in  dealing  with  a  dogma  so  distressing  to  the 
feelings,  so  alien  to  the  moral  sense,  as  the  Doom 
of  the  Majority  of  Mankind ;  but  earnestness  and 
warmth  are  not  inconsistent,  we  trust,  with  kindly 
feeling  and  fairness  of  statement.     In  exposing  the 


VI  PREFACE. 

errors  of  Orthodoxy,  we  are  not  ungrateful  for  its 
truths. 

No  better  proof  of  the  timeliness  of  this  volume 
can  be  given  than  that  Orthodoxy  is  earnestly  seeking 
for  a  solution  of  the  problems  of  which  it  treats.  That 
solution  may  not  be  reached  in  the  present  discussion, 
but  its  attainment  is  only  postponed.  Fundamental 
questions  in  ethics  or  religion  are  not  decided  finally 
until  they  are  decided  rightly.  They  may  be  evaded 
or  deferred ;  but  they  will  reappear,  and  knock  at  the 
door  of  the  reason  and  the  conscience  till  by  their 
importunity  they  command  a  hearing.  The  disposi- 
tion of  Evangelical  Christians  to  grapple  anew  with 
these  old  questions  is  a  grateful  sign. 

There  is  a  liberal  spirit  working  through  all  the 
sects  to-day.  No  sect  has  any  monopoly  of  it,  and 
none  can  escape  its  influence.  It  is  not  merely  pull- 
ing down,  but  it  is  building  "  with  a  sure  and  ample 
base,"  upon  broader  and  deeper  foundations.  We 
hail  with  joy  every  conquest  that  it  makes.  Let  the 
liberal  elements  in  every  branch  of  the  Christian 
Church  join  hands  for  the  consummation  of  this  con- 
structive work.  What  are  differences  in  polity,  ritual, 
and  denominational  traditions,  compared  with  the 
work  of  purifying  Christianity  from  its  corruptions, 
developing  its  best  ideals,  and  making  it  truly  repre- 
sentative of  universal  religion  ? 

Boston,  May,  1883. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGS 

Pbepacb iii 


I.  The  Damnation  of  the  Majority  taught 
BY  Evangelical  Christians  as  a  Scrip- 
ture Doctrine 5 

II.  The  Damnation  of  the  Majority  taught 

BY  Evangelical  Creeds 25 

III.  This  Doctrine  still  taught  by  Evangel- 

ical Denominations 49 

IV.  Admissions  and  Criticisms 67 

V.   Attempted  Mitigations 95 

VI.  Unmitigated  Features 113 

VII.   The  Solution 130 


OM 


OF    THE 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND. 


"  Dark  and  Awful  : "  such  are  the  words  with  which 
an  eminent  professor  in  an  Evangelical  Theological  Semi- 
nary (Rev.  W.  G.  T.  Shedd,  D.D.,  of  Union  Theological 
Seminaiy,  New  York)  describes  the  doctrine  that  he 
teaches  to  his  pupils,  and  proclaims  from~  the  pulpit  as 
the  great  motive  for  missionary  effort.  What  is  this 
"dark  and  awful"  doctrine?  It  is  that  ''millions  upon 
millions "  ^  of  a  "  miserable  and  infatuated  race,"  involv- 
ing the  vast  majority  of  mankind,  are  doomed  to  ever- 
lasting woe. 

Were  this  merely  the  personal  opinion  of  the  man  who 
teaches  it,  we  should  hardly  think  it  necessary  to  consider 
it,  notwithstanding  the  respect  we  entertain  for  this  emi- 
nent writer  and  scholar.  If  it  were  the  opinion  of  a  few 
individuals  only,  or  if  it  were  a  doctrine  antiquated  and 
obsolete,  we  should  not  arraign  it  in  this  paper.  But  it  is 
a  view  which  has  been  and  is  still  extensively  held  within 
the  limits  of  what  is  known  as  Evangelical  Christianity. 
It  is  a  doctrine  upon  which  a  whole  system  of  theology 
has  been  built,  and  upon  which  it  still  rests. 

1  The  GuUt  of  the  Pagan,  New  York,  1864,  p.  23. 


4  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

Three  hundred  years  ago  John  Calvin,  in  describing 
his  doctrine,  used  words  similar  to  those  of  Dr.  Sbedd; 
"It  is  a  dreadful  decree,  I  confess."  Decretum  quidem 
horrible,  fateor.  And  yet  this  dreadful  decree  has  been, 
and  still  is,  proclaimed  as  a  part  of  the  glad  tidings  which 
Jesus  Christ  brought  into  the  world ! 

At  the  present  day  there  are  many  who,  while  admitting 
the  premises  upon  which  the  doctrine  is  founded,  shrink 
from  the  conclusions  to  which  it  inevitably  leads.  They 
would  gladly  relieve  Orthodoxy  from  the  charge  of  having 
believed  and  taught  that  "the  vast  majority  of  the  human 
race  are  to  be  the  victims  of  endless  woe."  They  cannot 
feel  more  deeply  than  we  do  the  reproach  of  such  a  doc- 
trine. We  welcome  any  argument  or  any  confession 
which  shall  remove  this  stigma  from  the  name  of  Christi- 
anity. But  such  argument  or  confession  must  be  true  to 
the  facts.  Orthodoxy  cannot  be  relieved  from  its  respon- 
sibility for  this  doctrine  by  the  plea  that  it  has  never 
authoritatively  taught  it. 

Rev.  J.  L.  Withrow,  D.D.,  pastor  of  Park  Street  Church, 
Boston,  is  amazed  that  men  should  so  "absolutely  and 
abominably  misrepresent  the  Evangelical  belief  concerning 
the  number  of  the  saved  and  lost."  ^  When  a  prominent 
Orthodox  minister  feels  called  upon  to  deny  that  he  per- 
sonally believes  that  the  vast  majority  of  the  human  race 
are  to  be  victims  of  endless  woe,  we  are  conscious  of  in- 
creased respect  for  his  opinions  and  his  courage  in 
declaring  them;  but  when  it  is  flatly  denied  that  it  is  a 
doctrine  of  the  system  of  Orthodoxy  which  he  represents, 
the  negation  demands  consideration. 

In  the  following  pages  we  respectfully  present  some 
competent  evidence  upon  the  subject,  —  not  so  much  that 
we  may  fix  the  shame  and  disgrace  of  the  doctrine  upon 
Evangelical  Christians,  as  that  we  may  have  some  ground 
for  urging  them  to  remove  it.    The  best  argument  we  can 

1  Christian  Register,  December  14, 1882;  and  January  4,  1883. 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  0 

present  against  this  dismal  doctrine  is  to  let  those  who 
hold  it  state  it  for  themselves.  The  evidence  we  offer 
covers  the  following  points :  — 

I.   Evangelical  Christians  have  taught  this  as  a  Scrip- 
ture doctrine. 

II.   It  is  taught  by  Evangelical  Creeds. 
III.   It  is  still  taught  by  Evangelical  Denominations. 

We  purpose  to  take  these  points  in  the  order  in  which 
they  are  given,  and  consider  them  in  detail. 

I. 

The  Damnation  op  the  Majority  of  Mankind  has 
been  taught  by  evangelical  christians  as  a 
Doctrine  of  the  Scriptures. 

When  it  is  asked,  "Do  the  Scriptures  teach  this  doc- 
trine ?  "  we  answer,  With  any  fair,  reasonable,  scholarly 
interpretation,  they  do  not.  But  we  do  assert,  without 
fear  of  successful  contradiction,  that  Orthodoxy  has  in^ 
fused  its  interpretation  into  the  /Scriptures,  and  has 
constantly  appealed  to  them  in  support  of  this  doctrine. 

The  texts  which  are  adduced  in  its  support  are  very 
numerous,  and  the  men  who  have  presented  them  have 
been  as  numerous  as  the  texts.  They  have  not  been  con- 
fined to  any  one  age.  In  his  book,  "  Mercy  and  Judg- 
ment," which  followed  the  storm  created  by  "  Eternal 
Hope,"  Canon  Farrar  has  gone  into  this  general  question 
in  much  detail.  As  a  result  of  his  examination  he  says ; 
*^  I  assert  and  shall  prove  that  the  Christian  writings  of 
every  age  abound  in  assertions  that  the  few  only  will  be 
savedr  Canon  Farrar  proves  his  assertion  by  referring 
to  the  opinions  of  the  Church  Fathers.  Rev.  F.  N.  Oxen- 
ham,  in  his  book,  "  What  is  the  Truth  as  to  Everlasting 
Punishment  ?  "  also  in  reply  to  Dr.  Pusey,  has  effectually 
appealed  to  the  same  sources.     Some  of  these  quotations 


6  THE    DOOM   OF    THE 

show  from  what  a  small  tincture  of  Scripture,  diluted 
with  a  great  deal  of  individual  speculation,  the  doctrine 
was  compounded.  They  are  sufficient  to  confirm  Mr. 
Oxenham  in  his  conclusion  that  "the  dominant  teaching 
of  all  sorts  of  theologians  since  the  Reformation,  both 
Catholic  and  Protestant  (with  no  doubt  a  remarkable 
exception  here  and  there),  until  the  last  few  years,  has 
declared  unhesitatingly  this  doctrine  as  a  certain  and 
terrible  truth  revealed  to  us  by  God."     (p.  31.)  ^ 

ST.    CHRYSOSTOM. 

St.  Chrysostom,  in  his  Twenty-fourth  Homily  on  the 
Acts,  preaching  at  Antioch,  said :  — 

*'  How  many,  think  you,  are  there  in  our  city  who  will  be 
saved  ?  It  is  a  terrible  truth  which  I  am  about  to  utter,  but 
yet  I  will  utter  it.  Among  so  many  thousands,  a  hundred  can- 
not be  found  who  will  be  saved,  and  even  about  them  I  doubt.'* 
{0pp.  ed.  Montfaucon,  ix.  198  [214],  b.) 

ST.    AUGUSTINE. 

**Not  all,  nor  even  a  majority,  are  saved"  (^Enchiridion,  cap. 
24,  al.  97.     0pp.  vi.  231  [395],  ed.  Bened.) 

"They  [the  saved]  are  indeed  many,  if  regarded  by  them- 
selves, hut  they  are  few  in  comparison  ivith  the  far  larger  number  of 
those  who  shall  be  punished  with  the  devil."  (Contra  Cresco- 
nium,,  lib.  iv.  cap.  63,  al.  53.     0pp.  ix.  514  [785],  ed.  Bened.) 

GREGORY     THE     GREAT. 

"  Many  come  to  (the  knowledge  of)  the  faith,  but  few  are  led 
on  to  enter  the  heavenly  kingdom.^^  (In  Evang.  Horn.  xix.  c.  5. 
0pp.  i.  1513,  ed.  Bened.) 

ST.    THOMAS   AQUINAS. 

St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  commenting  on  2  Pet,  i.  10,  says:  — 
"For  now  it  is  a  secret  who  are  elect  and  who  are  repro- 
bates, since  both  are  now  together  ;  and  many,  who  now  are 


i/ 


MAJORITY    OF    MANKIND.  7 

living  well,  are  nevertheless  reprobates,  and  many,  who  now 
are  evil-livers,  are  nevertheless  elect.     But  in  the  Day  of  Judg- 
ment, when  God  will  winnow  and  purge  his  floor,  it  will  then 
be  evident  who  are  elect  and  who  are  reprobates  ;  and  that  the   ^, 
elect  are  few  and  the  reprobates  many,  since  much  shall  be  found  f 
of  chaff  and  little  of  wheat."     (See  Oxenham,  p.  150.) 

CORNELIUS    X    LAPIDE. 

Writing  on  the  "greatt  multitude  which  no  man  could 
number"  (Rev.  vii.  9),  Cornelius  a  Lapide,  the  eminent 
commentator,  says :  — 

'*  From  what  has  been  said,  we  may  estimate  that  in  the  end 
of  the  world  the  total  number  of  all  the  saints  and  elect,  who 
have  ever  lived  anywhere  in  any  age,  will  make  up  some  hundred 
millions.  The  number  of  the  reprobate  will,  however,  be  far 
greater,  which  will  come  to  not  only  hundreds  but  even  thou- 
sands of  millions.  For  often  out  of  a  thousand  men,  —  nay,  even 
out  of  ten  thousand,  —  scarcely  one  is  saved." 

Cornelius  says  elsewhere  that  "  a  crowd  of  men  sink 
daily  to  Tartarus  as  thick  as  the  falling  snowflakes." 
(Num.  xiv.  30.) 

GIULIO    CESARE    RECUPITO. 

Recupito  was  the  author  of  a  curious  book,  "  De  Num- 
ero  Praedestinatorum  et  Reproborum,"  Paris,  1664.  We 
have  never  had  access  to  it ;  but  Canon  Farrar  found  a 
copy  in  the  Archbishops'  Library  at  Lambeth,  and  thus 
describes  it :  — 

**  In  the  first  chapter  he  argues  that  the  number  of  the  elect 
is  fixed  and  definite.  In  the  second  he  quotes  the  view  of  those 
who  held  that  the  number  of  the  lost  did  not  exceed  that  of  the 
saved.  He  does  not  stop  to  argue  the  question  generally.  He 
at  once  assumes,  as  an  axiom,  that  for  six  thousand  years  none 
but  Jews  could  have  been  saved,  and  that  now  none  could  be 
possibly  saved  outside  the  pale  of  the  Church ;  so  that  countless 
millions  of  Mohammedans,  Gentiles,  and  heretics  are  calmly 
disposed  of  with  the  oracular  remark  that  '  their  damnation  is 
certain.* 


( 


8  THE    DOOM   OF    THE 

"  He  next  adduces  the  opinion  of  the  Fathers,  and  quotes  in 
his  favor  St.  Chrysostom,  St.  Ambrose,  St.  Augustine,  and  St. 
Gregory.  Then  he  tells  us  from  the  Abbot  Nilus,  a  revelation 
to  St.  Simeon  Stylites  that  scarcely  one  soul  was  saved  out  of  ten 
thousand,  and  the  vision  of  a  bishop,  referred  to  by  Trithemius 
in  his  '  Chronicon,'  about  a.d.  1160,  in  which  a  hermit  appeared 
to  him,  and  said  that  at  the  hour  of  his  death  three  thousand 
others  had  died,  and  that  the  only  one  saved  among  them  was 
St.  Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  and  three  who  went  to  purgatory. 
He  further  adduces  another  vision  of  a  preacher  who  says  that 
sixty  thousand  stood  with  him  before  God's  bar,  and  all  except 
three  were  condemned  to  hell  ;  and  yet  another  of  a  Parisian 
master  who  appeared  to  his  bishop,  announcing  that  he  had 
been  damned,  and  added  that  '  so  many  souls  were  daily  thrust 
down  to  hell  that  he  could  scarcely  believe  there  were  so  many 
men  in  the  world.'  Indeed,  he  asked  if  the  world  still  existed. 
For  he  had  seen  so  many  tumbling  into  the  abyss  that  he  thought 
that  none  could  remain  alive." 


Dr.  Lewis  Du-Moulin  was  Professor  of  History  at 
Oxford.  We  have  before  us  his  little  work,  found  in 
Harvard  College  Library,  and  bearing  the  following 
title  :  — 

*'  Moral  Reflections  upon  the  Number  of  the  Elect,  Proving 
plainly  from  Scripture  Evidence,  etc.,  That  not  One  in  a  Hun- 
dred Thousand  (nay  probably  not  One  in  a  Million),  from  Adam 
down  to  our  Times,  shall  be  Saved.  By  Dr.  Lewis  Du-Moulin, 
Late  Histoiy  Professor  of  Oxford.  London  :  Printed  for 
Richard  Janetvay,  in  Queens-Head  Alley,  in  Pater-Noster-Row, 
MDCLXXX." 

The  doctrine  of  this  book  may  be  inferred  from  the 
title  ;  but  we  quote  some  interesting  passages  :  — 

*'  Some,  who  are  but  few  in  Number,  as  C(Elius  Secundus 
Curio,  de  amplitudine  regni  gratiw,  have  indeavoured  to  prove, 
That  the  Number  of  the  Saved  Ones,  is  much  more  great,  than 
that  of  the  Damned.  .Others  make  almost  an  equal  division  of 
them,  as  Zuinglius:  feut  the  most  believe,  that  the   Number 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  9 

Xof  the  Damned  is  incomparably  greater,  than  those  that  are/ 
/     Saved ;   and  that  there  is  not  above  one  Saved  of  a  hundred*^ 
Thousand,  or   rather  of   a   Million,  from  Adam,  even  to  the 
Day  of  Judgment."  \^.  1.) 

"  Jesus  Christ  sayes,  that  his  Flock  is  small  ;  that  there  are 
but  few  persons  that  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  ;  that 
when  he  shall  come  again  upon  the  Earth,  he  shall  not  find  faith 
in  it  ;  that  all  the  World  shall  run  after  the  Beast:  That  the 
Number  of  the  Elect  is  very  little  in  Comparison  of  those  that 
are  Called,  and  Consequently,  that  the  Number  of  the  Called  is 
infinitely  less,  than  that  of  those  who  are  not  Called,  and  that 
know  not  what  the  Christian  Religion  is.  For  if  you  suppose 
that  before  Jesus  Christ  there  was  but  one  Called  among  a 
Hundred  Thousand,  if  not  indeed  a  Million  of  Men,  and  that 
among  a  Hundred  Called,  it  was  but  a  peradventure  that  one 
was  Chosen  ;  the  Number  of  the  Elect  before  the  Advent  of 
Jesus  Christ  will  amount  to  very  little  ;  for  it  is  easy  to  shew  by 
History,  that,  I  will  not  say  of  a  Hundred,  but  of  Five  Hun- 
dred, or  a  Thousand  Called  in  Israel,  scarce  will  you  find  one 
Faithful  ;  insomuch,  that  though  the  Called  People  were  so 
greatly  numerous,  the  Prophets,  particularly  Esaiah,  complain, 
that  hardly  one  believed  their  Report,  or  Preaching,"    (p.  11.) 

♦'  To  conclude,  I  would  refer  my  self  to  the  judgment  of  any 
sober,  considering  person,  what  a  vast  and  almost  an  infinit 
proportion  in  number  one  should  find,  if  from  Adam^s  days 
down  to  ours,  there  should  be  a  comparison  made  of  the  Sum 
total  of  the  Elect,  with  that  of  those  who  are  not  Elected  :  I 
believe  that  this  Proportion  would  be  of  one  Person  Saved,  to  a 
Million  that  is  not  :  that  is  to  say,  That  there  is  a  Million  of 
Reprobates  to  one  that  shall  be  Chosen  so  as  to  be  Saved."  (p.  21.) 

But  there  is  another  authority.  Let  us  take  the  man 
who,  more  than  any  other,  has  been  adduced  as  the  cham- 
pion and  founder  of  the  Orthodox  system,  —  John  Calvin. 
His  modern  influence  we  believe  is  certainly  declining, 
but  he  is  still  proudly  appealed  to  as  an  authority  by  a 
great  body  of  Evangelical  Christians.  Professor  E.  D. 
Morris,  of  Lane  Seminary  (Presbyterian),  in  his  Inaugu- 
ral Address  recently  delivered,  says  :  "  Presbyterianism 


10  THE   DOOM   OF   THB 

throughout  the  world  may  be  said  to  be  in  an  eminent 
sense  doctrinal,  —  doctrinal  because  it  is  Calvinistic." 
What  is,  then,  the  doctrine  of  Calvin  on  this  point? 


Calvin  believed,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  assert,  that  the 
majority  of  mankind  are  eternally  lost.  He  did  not  fear 
to  face  the  logical  consequences  of  his  belief.  Where  did 
he  get  his  belief  from?  He  professed  to  get  it  —  and 
certainly  thought  in  all  honesty  that  he  got  it,  from  the 
Bible.  He  claimed  that  the  Bible  taught  that  God  had 
elected  Q,few  to  eternal  glory,  but  that  the  rest,  including 
the  heathen,  who  constitute  the  vast  majority  of  man- 
kind, were  reprobated  to  eternal  damnation. 

In  his  commentary  on  Matt.  vii.  13,  Calvin  says :  — 
*'  He  expressly  says  that  many  run  along  the  hroad  roady 
because  men  ruin  each  other  by  wicked  examples.  For  whence 
does  it  arise  that  each  of  them  knowingly  and  wilfully  rushes 
headlong,  but  because,  while  they  are  ruined  in  the  midst  of  a 
vast  crowd,  they  do  not  believe  that  they  are  ruined.  The  small 
number  of  believers,  on  the  other  hand,  renders  many  persons 
careless.  It  is  with  difficulty  that  we  are  brought  to  renounce 
the  world,  and  to  regulate  ourselves  and  our  life  by  the  manners 
of  B.few.  We  think  it  strange  that  we  should  be  forcibly  sep- 
arated from  the  vast  majority,  as  if  we  were  not  a  part  of  the 
human  race.  But  though  the  doctrine  of  Christ  confines  and 
hems  us  in,  reduces  our  life  to  a  narrow  road,  separates  us  from 
the  crowd,  and  unites  us  to  a  few  companions,  yet  this  harsh- 
ness ought  not  to  prevent  us  from  striving  to  obtain  life." 
(Pringle's  Translation.) 

In  his  Harmony,  Matt.  xxiv.  22,  he  discusses  the  ques- 
tion why  God  determined  that  "  a  few  should  remain  out 
of  a  vast  multitude.'*'* 

In  his  comments  on  Matt.  xxiv.  5  he  shows  that  it  was 
"  through  the  vengeance  of  God  that  more  were  carried 
away  by  a  foolish  credulity  than  were  brought  by  a  right 
faith  to  obey  God." 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  11 

In  commenting  upon  the  prayer  of  Jesus,  in  John  xvii. 
9,  he  says :  — 

*'  Whence  it  appears  that  the  whole  \\^orld  does  not  belong  to 
its  Creator  ;  only  that  grace  snatches  a  few  from  the  curse  and 
wrath  of  God,  and  from  eternal  death,  who  would  otherwise 
perish  ;  but  leaves  the  world  in  the  ruin  to  which  it  has  been 
ordained." 

In  remarking  upon  the  beautiful  words  of  Christ, 
Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  are  weary  and  heavy-laden^ 
Calvin's  dreadful  views  are  clearly  made  plain  :  — 

"  And  yet  all  [who  accept  this  invitation]  are  few  in  number  ; 
because,  out  of  the  innumerable  multitude  of  those  who  are 
perishing,  but  few  perceive  that  they  are  perishing." 

In  writing  against  Arminianism  Calvin  confesses  this 
horrible  doctrine  to  its  full  extent :  — 

"  I  ask  again,  how  has  it  come  to  pass  that  the  fall  of  Adam 
has  involved  so  many  nations  with  their  infant  children  in  eternal 
death,  and  this  without  remedy,  but  because  such  was  the  will  of 
God?  Here  the  tongues  that  have  been  so  voluble  it  becomes  to 
be  mute.  It  is  a  dreadful  decree,  I  confess."  —  (Institut.  lib.  iii. 
23,  7.) 

OPINIONS    OF    OTHER    COMMENTATORS. 

As  Jesus  was  journeying  towards  Jerusalem,  teaching 
in  cities  and  villages,  Luke  tells  us  (xiii.  23)  that  a  certain 
man  met  him  and  said  unto  him,  "•  Lord,  are  there  few 
that  be  saved  ?  "  It  was  a  curious  question,  but  one  very 
natural  for  a  Jew  to  ask ;  for  it  was  a  common  belief 
among  the  Jews  that  they  were  the  elect  of  God,  and 
that  the  Gentiles  were  of  little  importance  in  his  sight. 
Eisenmenger^  quotes  a  rabbin  who  said  that  "the  soul 
of  a  single  Israelite  is  by  itself  more  precious  and  dear  in 
the  sight  of  the  blessed  God  than  all  the  souls  of  a  whole 
nation ; "  and  again :  "  The  world  was  created  for  the  sake 
of  the  Israelites."    "  They  are  the  wheat,  the  other  nations 

1  Entdecktes  Judenthum,  vol.  i.  pp.  569,  571. 


12  THE   DOOM   OF    THE 

are  the  chaff."  It  may  have  seemed  to  this  Jew  a  dan- 
gerous doctrine  to  preach  that  the  Gentiles  were  equally 
the  children  of  his  fatvor ;  as  centuries  later  it  seemed  to 
the  makers  of  the  Westminster  Catechism  a  "  detestable 
and  pernicious  "doctrine  that  the  heathen  could  be  saved. 
But  whatever  the  motive  of  this  question,  Jesus  did  not 
deign  to  answer  it.  He  advised  his  questioner,  however, 
to  strive  to  enter  the  strait  gate  himself,  to  work  out  his 
own  salvation,  instead  of  cherishing  the  idea  that  he 
belonged  to  a  favored  class. 

Although  Jesus  did  not  satisfy  this  man's  curiosity  by 
giving  his  own  views  on  the  subject,  it  seems  a  little 
strange  that  there  should  have  been  commentators  in  all 
ages  who  have  been  bold  enough  to  furnish  him  with  an 
opinion.  With  singular  frequency  the  conclusion  has 
been  reached  that  few  were  to  be  saved  and  the  vast 
majority  eternally  lost.  Among  Calvinistic  commen- 
tators this  has  been  the  unanimous  verdict.  That  system 
of  orthodoxy  has  permitted  no  other  belief.  But  this 
view  has  not  been  confined  to  Calvinists.  It  has  been 
held  by  Arminians  as  well.  As  Canon  Farrar  ^  says : 
"It  is  centuries  older  than  Calvinism;  it  is  immensely 
wider  than  the  limits  of  Calvinistic  churches."  And 
again  in  the  same  book :  "  The  damnation  of  the  vast 
majority  of  mankind  has  been  the  normal  teaching  of 
theologians  in  every  age  since  the  earliest.'*     (p.  140.) 

The  passage  in  Luke  has  furnished  less  ground,  perhaps, 
for  this  conclusion  than  two  that  occur  in  Matthew  — 
namely.  Matt.  xx.  16  and  xxii.  14,  where  Jesus  says, 
"  Many  are  called  but  few  chosen."  In  one  case  it  follows 
the  parable  of  the  Laborers,  which  seems  to  be  directed 
against  the  doctrine  of 'Jewish  exclusiveness ;  in  the  other 
it  follows  the  parable  of  the  Marriage  of  the  King's  Son. 
In  neither  parable  is  there  the  slightest  reference  to 
the  doctrine  of   everlasting  punishment.     Jesus  was  re- 

1  Mercy  and  Judgment,  p.  153. 


MAJORITY    OF    MANKIND.  13 

buking  the  people  of  his  own  age  and  country  because 
many  of  them  preferred  darkness  rather  than  light.  He 
showed  also  that,  though  many  were  called  into  his 
kingdom,  but  few  became  eminent  in  it.  It  is  a  monstrous 
assumption  to  suppose  that  in  these  passages  he  gave  a 
revelation  concerning  the  proportion  of  the  human  race 
who  should  be  consigned  to  hell.  Yet  this  is  the  view 
that  has  been  taken  over  and  over  again  of  these  texts 
by  Evangelical  writers.  Matt.  vii.  13  has  been  inter- 
preted in  the  same  way.  A  few  extracts  from  prominent 
commentators  will  show  how  persistently  these  texts 
have  been  interpreted  with  reference  to  the  final  destiny 
of  the  race. 

DIG D  ATI. 

Diodati,  in  his  Annotations  (third  edition,  1661)  on 
Matt.  vii.  13,  says :  — 

"  For  to  come  to  eternall  happiness  doe  not  follow  the  way  of 
pleasures,  and  ease  of  the  world  and  the  flesh,  nor  the  great  num- 
ber and  multitude  of  men:  but  make  choice  of  the  hard  and 
laborious  profession  of  the  Gospel  with  its  crosse  :  and  joyn  thy- 
self to  the  small  sanctified  flock  of  the  Church  by  faith  and 
imitation  of  good  men,  who  are  alwaies  the  smallest  number  in  the 
world. ^^ 

On  Matt.  xxii.  14  he  says  :  — 

'*  Because  that  many  who  are  called  do  not  answer  to  Gods 
call  and  that  even  amongst  those  also  who  doe  in  some  sort 
answer,  some  are  rejected,  it  appears  that  the  eternall  election  is 
not  of  allf  but  of  a  feiv.^^ 

On  Luke  xiii.  23  he  says:  — 

"  Christ  according  to  his  wonted  custome  does  not  answer 
directly  to  that  curious  and  unprofitable  question :  hit  silently 
avoweth  that  indeed  there  are  but  few.  ^^ 

ESTIUS. 

Estius,  commenting  on  St.  Paul's  declaration  (1  Tim. 
ii.  4)  that  "  God  will  have  all  men  to  be  saved  and  to  come 


14  ~  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,"  concludes  one  part  of  his 
argument  by  saying,  "  Since  it  is  certain  that  all  men  are 
not  saved,  and  that  all  men  do  not  believe,  but  only  a  few 
out  of  all,"  &c. 

And,  again,  on  2  Pet.  iii.  9,  he  says  :  "  Since,  then, 
it  is  an  admitted  fact  [constet]  that  all  men  do  not 
come  to  repentance,  but  that  the  majority  are  lost,  it  is 
inquired,"  &c. 

WESTMINSTER   ASSEMBLY    OF    DIVINES. 

In  the  Annotations  made  upon  the  Bible  by  the  West- 
minster Assembly  of  Divines,  they  say  of  Matt.  xx.  16:  — 

"  Some  come  short  of  that  which  others,  inferior  to  them  in 
the  account  of  the  world,  obtain,  because  they  are  only  out- 
wardly called,  by  the  word,  but  are  not  from  eternity  chosen  by 
God  to  eternall  life.  .  .  .  Though  there  are  many  who  are  exter- 
nally called,  yet  there  are  but  few  that  go  to  heaven." 

On  the  similar  passage  in  Matt.  xxii.  14,  they  say :  — 

"  Because  many  that  are  called  do  not  come  into  God's  Church, 
and  among  those  that  do  come,  some  are  not  saved,  for  want  of 
an  holy  conversation,  it  appears  that  few  are  chosen  to  eternal 
life.'' 

MATTHEVr    HENRY. 

Matthew  Henry,  on  Matt.  vii.  13,  says  :  — 
' '  Those  that  are  going  to  heaven  are  but  few  compared  to 
those  that  are  going  to  hell;   a. remnant,  a  little  flock  like  the 
grape-gleanings  of  the  vintage ;  as  the  eight  that  were  saved  in 
the  ark." 

In  commenting  on  the  question  put  to  Jesus  in  Luke 
xiii.  23  :  "  Are  there  few  that  be  saved  ?  "  Matthew  Henry 
recognizes  the  fact  that  Jesus  did  not  return  any  direct 
answer  to  the  question.  He  does  not,  however,  seem 
content  to  leave  the  matter  where  Jesus  left  it,  but  pro- 
ceeds to  answer  the  question  himself. 

"  We  have  reason  to  wonder  that,  of  the  many  to  whom  the 
word  of  salvation  is  sent,  there  are  so  few  to  whom  it  is  indeed  a 


MAJORITY    OP    MANKIND.  15 

saving  word.  ...  It  concerns  us  all  seriously  to  improve  the 
great  truth  of  the  fewness  of  those  that  are  saved.  Think  how 
many  take  some  pains  for  salvation,  and  yet  perish  because  they 
do  not  take  enough ;  and  you  will  say  that  there  are  few  that  will 
he  saved,  and  that  it  highly  concerns  us  to  strive.  .  .  .  Think  of 
the  distinguishing  day  that  is  coming,  and  the  decisions  of  that 
day,  and  you  will  say  there  are  few  that  shall  be  saved,  and  that  we 
are  concerned  to  strive.  Think  how  many  that  were  very  con- 
fident they  should  be  saved  will  be  rejected  in  the  day  of  trial, 
and  their  confidence  will  deceive  them  ;  and  you  will  say,  there 
are  few  that  shall  be  saved,  and  we  are  all  concerned  to  strive." 

WILLIAM   BUEKITT. 

William  Burkitt  (vicar  of  Dedham,  Eng.,  1712),  on 
Matt.  xxii.  14,  says  :  — 

**  Amongst  the  Multitude  of  those  that  are  called  by  the 
Gospel  unto  Holiness  and  Obedience,  few,  very  few  compara- 
tively, do  obey  that  Call,  and  shall  be  Eternally  saved." 

ADAM   CLARKE. 

Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  in  his  commentary  on  Psalms  ix. 
17:  — 

"  The  wicked  shall  be  turned  into  helj,  and  all  the  nations 
that  forget  God.  There  are  both  nations  and  individuals  who, 
though  they  know  God,  forget  Him,  that  is,  are  unmindful  of 
Him ;  do  not  acknowledge  Him  in  their  designs,  ways,  and  works. 
These  are  all  to  be  thrust  down  into  hell." 

In  his  commentary  on  Matt.  vii.  14  he  says  (Italics 
his)  :  — 

"  There  are  few  who  fnd  the  way  to  heaven ;  fewer  yet  who 
abide  any  time  in  it  ;  fewer  still  who  walk  in  it  ;  and  fewest  of 
all  who  persevere  unto  the  end." 

The  "  wide  gate  and  broad  way  "  he  interprets  as  leading 
into  "  eternal  misery." 

On  Matt.  xxii.  14  he  remarks  :  — 

♦'  Many  are  called  by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  unto  the 
outward  communion  of  the  Church  of  Christ  ;  hut  few,  compara- 


16  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

lively^  are  chosen  to  dwell  with  God  in  glory,  because  they  do  not 
come  to  the  master  of  the  feast  for  a  marriage-garment." 

DODDRIDGE. 

Doddridge  on  Matt.  vii.  14 :  — 

"  Strait  is  the  Gate  and  rugged  and  painful  the  Way  which 
leads  to  eternal  Life,  and  they  who  find  it  and  with  a  holy 
Ardency  and  Resolution  press  into  it,  so  as  to  arrive  at  that 
blessed  End,  are  comparatively  few."    _ 

On  Matt.  XX.  16 :  — 

*'  Though  many  are  called,  and  the  Messages  of  Salvation  are 
sent  to  vast  Multitudes,  even  to  all  the  Thousands  of  Israel,  yet 
there  are  but  few  chosen.  A  small  remnant  only  will  embrace  the 
Gospel  so  universally  offered  and  so  be  saved  according  to  the 
Election  of  Grace,  while  the  rest  will  be  justly  disowned  by  God 
as  a  Punishment  for  so  obstinate  and  so  envious  a  Temper." 

On  Matt.  xxii.  14:  — 

"  Though  it  be  a  dreadful  truth,  yet  I  must  say  that  even  the 
greatest  part  of  those  to  whom  the  Gospel  is  offered  will  either 
openly  reject  or  secretly  disobey  it.  .  .  .  Few  are  chosen  in  such 
a  sense  as  finally  to  partake  of  its  blessings." 

BOOT-HEOYD. 

Boothroyd's  Family  Bible  (1824),  in  a  note  on  Matt, 
xxii.  14:  — 

"  Though  many  are  invited  [by  the  Gospel]  yet  few  chosen, 
—  few  that  will  he  finally  approved." 

HEUBNEB. 

Heubner,  on  Matt.  vii.  13 :  — 

"  Oh,  how  many  go  on  the  broad  way!  Thus  the  majority  of 
men  hasten  to  ruin,  and  will  ultimately  be  condemned." 

DE.    OWEN. 

Dr.  John  J.  Owen,  in  his  commentary  (New  York, 
1857)  on  Matt.  xxii.  14 :  —  . 


MAJORITY    OF    MANKIND.  17 

"Many  are  invited  to  the  blessings  and  privileges  of  the 
gospel  feast,  but  comparatively  few  are  real  participants  of  the 
grace  of  God.  This  was  true  of  the  Jewish  nation,  in  respect 
to  whom  this  parable  had  primary  application.  The  people  in 
general  were  obdurate  and  unbelieving,  while  a  few  only  listened 
to  the  inspired  prophets.  Such,  also,  is  the  sad /ac/  in  respect  to 
every  nation,  even  those  most  highly  favored  with  the  light  of 
pure  Christianity.  The  masses  go  down  in  impenitence  to  the 
grave,  and  comparatively  few  are  found  in  the  way  that  leadeth  to 
life.'' 

BISHOP    OF   LINCOLN. 

Dr.  Christopher  Wordsworth,  Bishop  of  Lincoln  (1872), 
on  Matt.  xxii.  14 :  — 

"Christ  commands  to  baptize  all  Nations.  ...  He  proffers 
the  Marriage  garment  to  all,  and  yet  how  many  refuse  it  and 
prefer  their  own  clothes!  Besides,  even  of  those  who  have  the 
wedding  garment,  some  are  described  as  bad.  Therefore /e?^j  are 
chosen.  The  k\t]to\,  or  Ecclesia  visibilis^  is  numerous,  but  how  few 
are  the  chosen !  " 

OLSHAUSEN. 

Olshausen,  on  Luke  xiii.  23,  24,  concedes  the  damnation 
of  the  majority :  — 

"  The  Saviour  in  reply  does  not  say  exactly  that  there  were 
but  few  who  should  partake  of  salvation,  for,  looked  at  simply 
in  itself,  the  number  of  the  saved  is  great ;  it  is  only  relatively, 
and  as  compared  with  the  lost,  that  it  is  small." 

DEAN    GOULBURN. 

Speaking  of  the  doctrine  of  the  comparative  fewness 
of  the  saved,  Dean  Goulburn,  in  an  excursus  added 
to  the  second  edition  of  his  sermons  on  Everlasting 
Punishment  (1881),  says  :  — 

"It  is  awfully  startling,  and  ought  to  be  very  rousing  to 
the  energies  of"  our  will,  to  think  how  legibly  this  doctrine  is 
written  on  the  surface  of  Holy  Scripture,  —  what  pains,  if  I 
may  say  so,  God  has  taken  to  impress  it  upon  us  for  our 
warning."     (p.  241.) 


18  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

"  Now  let  it  be  observed  that  this  doctrine  of  the  fewness  of 
the  saved,  in  comparison  of  the  lost,  is  one  so  plainly  revealed 
that  none  who  accept  Holy  Scripture  as  the  word  of  God,  can 
dispute  it."     (p.  251.) 

We  have  quoted  from  a  line  of  commentators  extend- 
ing from  Calvin  down  to  the  present  day,  to  show  how 
constantly  this  doctrine  has  been  attributed  to  the  Scrip- 
tures. There  have  not  been  lacking  eminent  scholars  who 
have  formed  a  more  rational  judgment  of  these  passages, 
but  the  view  we  have  given  has  been  the  more  common 
one,  and  has  helped  to  confirm  the  popular  belief  on  this 
subject. 

OTHER   AUTHORITIES. 

This  interpretation  of  the  Scripture  is  frequently  con- 
fessed in  the  works  of  prominent  Evangelical  writers. 

Elchard  Baxter,  in  his  "  Saints'  Rest,"  thus  describes 
the  people  of  God :  — 

"  They  are  a  small  part  of  lost  mankind  whom  God  hath  from 
eternity  predestinated  to  this  Rest  for  the  glory  of  his  mercy, 
and  given  to  his  Son,  to  be  by  him  in  a  special  manner  re- 
deemed."   (Baxter^s  Saints^  Rest,  ch.  viii.  115.) 

Flavel,  in  his  "  Method  of  Grace,"  says  (the  italics  arp 
his):  — 

"  How  great  a  number  of  persons  are  in  the  state  of  condemnation  ! 
That  is  a  sad  complaint  of  the  prophet,  — '  Who  hath  believed 
our  report  ?  and  to  whom  is  the  arm  of  the  Lord  revealed  ? ' 
(Isaiah  liii.  1.)  Many  talk  of  faith,  and  many  profess  it;  but 
there  are  few  in  the  world  unto  whom  the  arm  of  the  Lord  has 
been  revealed  in  the  work  of  faith  with  power.  It  is  put  among 
the  great  mysteries  that  Christ  is  believed  on  in  the  world 
(1  Tim.  iii.  16).  Oh,  what  a  terrible  day  will  be  the  day  of 
Christ's  coming  to  judgment,  when  so  many  millions  of  unbeliev- 
ers shall  bd' brought  to  his  tribunal  to  be  solemnly  sentenced." 

Rev.  Jonathan  Townsend,  M.A.,  pastor  of  a  church  at 
Needham,  said :  — 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  19 

*'  And  thus  quick  are  we  all  hastening  into  Eternity.  Some 
to  heaven,  a  little  Company ;  but  Multitudes  throng  the  way  to 
Hell,  a  great  Multitude  which  no  Man  can  number,  "  (^Discourse  on 
God^s  Marvellous  Sparing  Mei'cy^  1738,  Boston,     p.  5.) 

It  is  competent  to  quote  President  Edwards  on  this 
point :  — 

"  That  there  are  generally  but  few  good  men  in  the  world, 
even  among  them  that  have  those  most  distinguishing  and  glo- 
rious advantages  for  it,  which  they  are  favored  with  that  live 
under  the  Gospel,  is  evident  by  that  saying  of  our  Lord,  from  time 
to  time  in  his  mouth.  Many  are  called ,  hut  few  are  chosen.  And 
if  there  are  but  few  among  these,  how  few,  how  very  few  indeed, 
must  persons  of  this  character  be,  compared  with  the  whole 
world  of  mankind!  The  exceeding  smallness  of  the  number  of 
true  saints,  compared  with  the  whole  world,  appears  by  the 
representations  often  made  of  them  as  distinguished  from  the 
world."  —  (^Edwards  on  Original  Sin,  section  vii. ;  Works,  vol.  ii. 
p.  343.) 

Another  form  in  which  the  doctrine  is  taught  is,  that 
the  great  body  of  the  heathen  world — numerically  the 
vast  majority  of  the  race  —  are  doomed  to  eternal  misery. 

In  '•  The  Principles  of  the  Protestant  Religion,  main- 
tained by  the  Ministers  of  the  Gospel  in  Boston,"  1690,  by 
James  Allen,  Joshua  Moody,  Samuel  Willard,  and  Cot- 
ton Mather,  the  damnation  of  the  heathen  is  taught  as  a 
Scripture  doctrine :  — 

•'  That  there  are  any  Elect  among  Pagans,  who  never  had 
the  gospel  offered  them,  is  not  only  without  Scripture  warrant, 
but  against  its  Testimony,  as  hath  been  agen  and  agen  made 
evident."     (pp.  92,  93.) 

In  a  work  entitled  "  The  Doleful  State  of  the  Damned," 
by  S.  Moody  of  York,  Maine,  published  in  1710,  we  find 
the  tortures  of  the  heathen  thus  described:  — 

"  The  Gentile  Nations  that  perished  (by  Thousa'^ds  and  Mil- 
lions) for  lack  of  Vision,  for  so  many  Ages,  whiles  God  (in  a  way 
of  New  Covenant  Mercy)  knew  only  the  Jewish  Nation,  the 
Seed  of  Abraham;  giving  His  Word  to  Jacob,  His   Statutes 


20  THE   DOOM   OF    THE 

and  Judgments  to  Israel :  All  these  Nations  (I  say)  whom  God 
suffered  to  walk  in  their  own  wayes,  will  be  inraged  with  Self- 
tormenting  Madness,  that  the  Lord  should  send  all  His  Servants 
the  Prophets  to  them,  unto  Jacob  whom  He  loved,  and  make  His 
Word  in  their  Mouth,  effectual  to  the  Conversion  and  Salvation  of 
so  many  Thousands  of  them  ;  while  these  Sinners  of  the  Gentiles 
could  not  hear  for  want  of  a  Preacher,  Rom.  x.  14.  And  the 
Ungospellized  Nations,  now  since  Christ  came  and  brake 
down  the  Partition  Wall  between  Jews  and  Gentiles  (which  are 
by  far  the  greatest  Part  of  the  World),  will  have  the  same 
bitter  Pill  to  Chew,  while  they  Consider  how  that  some  in  all 
Ages,  of  one  Nation  or  other,  and  some  of  all  Nations,  in  one 
Age  or  other,  are  Redeemed  and  Saved;  this  will  make  them 
Lament  and  Blaspheme,  that  the  Gospel  was  not  sent  to  their 
Nation,  and  in  their  Day  on  Earth.  Now  to  take  the  whole 
World  of  Reprobates  together,  in  whatever  Age  or  Nation  they 
lived,  that  Perish  either  for  lack  of  Vision,  or  for  Rebelling 
against  the  Light  of  Nature  and  Scripture  both ;  we  may  a  little 
consider,  in  a  more  general  Way,  how  it  will  Vex  and  Torment 
all  the  Damned,  while  they  View  and  Survey  in  their  Heaven- 
piercing  Thoughts,  the  Place  and  State  of  the  Glorified;  and 
consider,  L  That  there  was  a  Possibility  of  their  having  been 
all  happy,  as  well  as  they  that  are  so,  or  instead  of  them ;  there 
being  nothing  in  the  Nature  of  God  or  Man  against  it ;  .  .  .  so 
that  Thousands  of  Millions  will  say,  in  Hell  (and  vex  them- 
selves forever  with  such  fruitless  Wishes)  Oh !  That  the  Gospel 
of  Salvation  had  been  sent  to  us :  Oh !  That  we  had  but  heard 
the  joyful  Sound:  Oh!  That  we  had  Lived  in  such  Times  and 
Places  as  were  blessed  with  Sabbaths,  Ministers,  and  Bibles. 
And  ten  thousand  Times  ten  Thousand,  Oh!  That  the  Gospel 
had  been  made  effectual  to  us."  {The  Doleful  State  of  the 
Damned,  Doctrine  H.  p.  47.) 

Rev.  Nathanael  Emmons,  D.D.,  was  one  of  the  most 
eminent  of  Orthodox  theologians.  His  name  needs  only 
to  be  mentioned  to  be  recognized  and  honored  as  one 
of  Orthodoxy's  representative  champions.  His  writings 
have  had  a  wide  circulation  and  influence.  The  writer 
possesses  an  edition  of  the  Works  of  Dr.  Emmons,  with 
an  interesting  Memoir  by  Prof.  Edwards  A.  Park.      It 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  '  21 

is  not  the  work  of  a  Latin  Father ;  it  bears  the  imprint 
of  the  Congregational  Board  of  Publication,  1860.  In 
the  second  volume  of  that  work,  Dr.  Emmons  has  a  ser- 
mon entitled  "  Sins  without  Law  deserve  Punishment," 
in  which  he  gives  Scripture  evidence  to  show  that  the 
heathen  (constituting  the  vast  majority  of  mankind)  shall 
finally  perish  :  — 

"  The  design  of  this  discourse  is  to  show  :  — 
I.  That  the  heathen  are  without  law. 
II.  That  they  sin  without  law.     And 
III.  That  they  must  perish  without  law."    (vol.  ii.  p.  663.) 

"  Though  the  heathen  sin  without  law,  yet  their  sin  deserves 
eternal  destruction."     {lb.  p.  668.) 

"  Though  God  has  never  forbidden  the  heathen  to  do  things 
worthy  of  death,  yet  since  they  have  done  things  worthy  of 
death,  he  has  a  right  to  make  them  suffer  eternal  death,  the 
proper  wages  of  sin."     {lb.  p.  669.) 

"  God  has  told  us  in  his  word,  that  the  heathen,  who  sin  without 
law,  shall  perish  without  law.  God  might,  if  he  had  pleased, 
have  saved  the  heathen,  notwithstanding  their  desert  of  eternal 
destruction ;  but  he  has  let  us  know  in  his  word  that  he  deter- 
mines to  cast  them  off  forever.  He  has  already  caused  many 
of  them  to  perish. 

*'  The  men  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  were  heathen,  and  them, 
we  are  told,  he  has  '  set  forth  for  an  example,  suffering  the 
vengeance  of  eternal  fire,'  David  says:  '  The  wicked  shall  be 
turned  into  hell,  and  all  the  nations  that  forget  God.'  And  he 
prays  for  the  destruction  of  the  heathen:  'Thou,  therefore,  O 
Lord  God  of  hosts,,  the  God  of  Israel,  awake  to  visit  all  the 
heathen.'  And  again  he  prays:  '  Pour  out  thy  wrath  upon  the 
heathen  that  have  not  known  thee,  and  upon  the  kingdoms  that 
have  not  called  upon  thy  name.' 

"  More  passages  might  be  quoted,  and  more  things  said  upon 
this  head,  but  it  is  needless  to  enlarge.  The  will  of  God 
respecting  the  state  of  the  heathen  seems  to  be  clearly  and  fully 
revealed  in  his  word.^^     (lb.  p.  669.) 

Rev.  Enoch  Pond  will  be  recognized  as  another  eminent 
Orthodox  authority.    In  a  course  of  Missionary  Discourses, 


22  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

given  at  Ward,  Mass.,  and  published  in  1824,  we  find  one 
on  Romans  vi.  21 :  '^  The  end  of  those  things  is  death," 
in  which  he  says  :  — 

*'  We  have,  therefore,  in  the  text  this  affecting  truth  :  the  end 
of  heathenism  is  eternal  death.  Or,  in  other  words,  the  great  body 
of  those  who  lice  and  die  heathen  must  Jinally  perish.^''     (p.  221.) 

"  Like  all  unpardoned  sinners,  they  are  '  condemned  already,' 
and  are  under  sentence  of  eternal  punishment.  This  sentence 
cannot  be  remitted  without  repentance  and  reformation.  We 
find  no  intimations  in  the  Scriptures  that  God  will  forgive  any, 
even  heathens,  without  repentance  ;  but  everywhere  the  plainest 
intimations  to  the  contrary."     (p.  225.) 

*'  The  conclusion,  therefore,  is  irresistible,  that  the  great  body 
of  the  heathen  are  not  delivered  from  the  wages  of  sin,  but  are 
descending,  in  fearful  multitudes,  down  to  the  chambers  of 
eternal  death."     (p.  228.) 

"It  is  submitted,  my  brethren,  after  what  has  been  said, 
whether  the  proposition,  announced  at  the  commencement  of 
this  discourse,  has  not  been  immovably  established,  —  that  the 
end  of  heathenism  is  eternal  death ;  or  that  the  great  body  of  those 
who  live  and  die  heathens  must  ^  go  away  into  everlasting  punish- 
ment: "     (p.  232.) 

Dr.  Pond  adduces  "  numerous  passages  of  Scripture  in 
which  the  heathen  are  represented  as  exposed  to  perish 
forever."     The  list  is  too  long  to  republish. 

These  quotations  from  acknowledged  Orthodox  authori- 
ties might  be  easily  multiplied  ;  but  we  have  given  enough 
to  show  how  Orthodoxy  has  interpreted  the  Bible  on  these 
points,  and  how  badly  that  collection  of  books  has  fared 
at  its  hands.  What  better  argument  than  such  beliefs  as 
these  can  we  present  that  Orthodoxy  needs  to  revise  its 
estimate  of  the  Bible?  What  better  evidence  to  show 
that  the  Scriptures  had  better  be  rationally  interpreted, 
or  rationally  abandoned  ? 

Undoubtedly  the  Scriptures  do  teach,  in  the  various 
texts  that  have  been  quoted,  that  comparatively  few  attnin 
the  higher  blessedness,  —  the  more  abundant  life,  to  which 


MAJORITY    OF    MANKIND.  23 

Jesus  called  men,  —  compared  with  the  great  multitude 
who  take  a  broader  and  easier  road.  Bat  the  assumption 
is  unwarranted  that  these  passages  refer  to  everlasting 
punishment. 

DR.    EZRA    abbot's    VIEW. 

In  a  note  on  one  of  the  most  frequently  quoted  of 
these  passages,  that  of  Matt.  xxii.  14,  "  Many  are  called 
but  few  chosen,"  Prof.  Ezra  Abbot,  of  the  Cambridge 
Divinity  School,  after  quoting,  as  an  instance  of  intelli- 
gent Orthodox  interpretation.  Prof.  Bernhard  Weiss's 
exposition  of  this  jjassage,^  says  :  — 

*'  I  would  only  add  that,  in  this  parable  and  elsewhere,  Jesus 
is  not  considering  the  question  of  'probation  after  death,'  — 
whether  those  who  depart  from  this  life  without  having  become 
his  followers,  or  even  in  a  state  of  hostility  to  his  religion,  may 
or  may  not,  in  the  ages  to  come,  be  brought  into  a  better 
spiritual  condition ;  still  less  is  he  teaching  any  doctrine  about 
election  and  reprobation  in  the  Calvinistic  sense,  and  the  num- 
ber of  the  finally  saved.  The  present  parable  describes  his 
rejection  by  the  great  body  of  the  Jews ;  and  also  teaches  that 
of  those  (Jews  or  Gentiles)  who  might  profess  to  be  his  followers 
many  would  not  be  truly  such,  and  therefore  could  not  share  the 
blessings  which  belonged  to  his  kingdom.  When  persecution 
should  test  the  faith  of  his  disciples,  many  would  fall  away; 
nay,  '  the  love  of  the  many,*  of  the  great  majority,  '  would 
become  cold  '  (Matt.  xxiv.  10,  12).  Many  would  seek  to  enter 
the  kingdom,  or  to  partake  of  the  great  Messianic  banquet,  but 
would  not  be  able  (Luke  xiii.  24),  from  non-fulfilment  of  the 
essential  conditions,  which  were  very  different  from  what  they 
were  conceived  to  be  by  the  great  body  of  the  Jews. 

"  In  Matt.  vii.  13,  14,  Jesus  teaches  that  the  path  that  leads 
to  life  is  strait  and  narrow;  i.e.,  that  true  religion  requires  great 
self-denial  and  self-sacrifice,  such  as  the  vast  majority  of  men 

1  Weiss,  Das  Matthdusevangelium  und  seine  Lucas-Parallelen  erJclart 
("The  Gospel  of  Matthew  and  its  Parallels  in  Luke  Explained"), 
Halle,  1875,  p.  472.  Compare  his  "  Biblical  Theology,"  §  30,  d,  vol.  i. 
p.  137,  English  translation. 


24  ,  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

shrink  from,  so  that  those  who  walk  in  this  narrow  path  are 
comparatively  few.  Everybody  knows  that  this  was  the  state 
of  the  Jewish  and  the  heathen  world  when  Jesus  uttered  these 
words,  and  that  it  is  to  a  very  large  extent  the  state  of  the  world 
now.  The  questions  whether,  or  how,  or  when,  those  who  are 
in  the  road  to  destruction  can  turn  round  and  change  their 
course,  are  not  here  considered.  To  assume  that  Christ's 
language  teaches  that  the  spiritual  state  in  which  a  man  leaves 
this  world  is  irreversible,  and  that  the  great  majority  of  men, 
or  all  men,  may  not  ultimately  become  his  followers,  is  to  thrust 
into  the  passage  what  is  not  there. 

"  The  prevalent  false  view  of  this  and  many  other  passages 
is  due  in  part  to  that  misinterpretation  of  the  language  of  Jesus 
wliich*  applies  such  terms  as  life,  eternal  life,  salvation,  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  etc.,  on  the  one  hand,  and  death,  destruc- 
tion, hell,  damnation  (or  condemnation),  on  the  other,  mainly 
to  the  rewards  and  punishments  of  another  world,  and  con- 
ceives of  these  as  more  or  less  arbitrary,  and  not,  essentially, 
the  natural  and  necessary  results  of  the  observance  or  vio- 
lation of  spiritual  laws.  It  is  not  recognized  that  these 
terms  in  their  essential  meaning,  as  used  by  Jesus,  describe  not 
external  conditions,  but  states  of  the  soul;  that  '  he  who  listens 
to  the  word  of  Jesus  and  believes  in  Him  that  sent  him  hath 
eternal  life;  and  cometh  not  into  condemnation,  but  hath  passed 
out  of  death  into  life.'  The  pictorial,  dramatic,  parabolic 
language  in  which  Jesus  enforces  the  fact  of  retribution,  and 
illustrates  the  conditions  of  admission  into  his  kingdom,  is  taken 
in  a  gross  sense,  utterly  foreign  from  the  spirit  of  his  religion." 
(Christian  Register,  Boston,  Feb.  22,  1883.) 

But  whatever  view  may  be  taken  of  the  Scripture 
teachings  on  this  point,  humanity  is  rapidly  reaching  a 
point  of  development  when  it  will  refuse  to  receive  as 
authoritative  any  doctrine  which  affronts  the  affections, 
outrages  the  moral  sense,  and  blasphemes  the  name  of  the 
Most  High. 


MAJORITY   OF  MANKIND,  25 


II. 


The  Damnation  of  the   Majority    taught  by 
Evangelical   Creeds. 

It  is  claimed  by  some  that  the  only  fair  way  in  an 
examination  of  this  kind  is  not  to  take  individual  inter- 
pretations of  Scripture,  or  individual  utterances  on  the 
point  at  issue,  but  to  appeal  to  the  Evangelical  Creeds. 
Thus  Rev.  Dr.  Withrow,  of  Boston,  in  the  discussion 
which  has  given  rise  to  this  book,  said :  "  Evangelical 
creeds  are  the  constitutional  beliefs  of  Christendom. 
These  great  standards  of  Orthodox  belief  contain  the 
body  of  Evangelical  Faith,  founded  on  the  Word  of  God. 
It  would  be  in  order  for  any  one  to  adduce  from  the 
Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  from  the  Thirty-nine 
Articles,  or  the  Saybrook  or  the  Andover  Creed,  a  dis- 
proof of  my  statement,  that  'no  evangelical  creed  in 
Christendom  teaches  that  the  vast  majority  of  the  human 
race  are  to  be  the  victims  of  endless  woe.'  .  .  .  Ortho- 
doxy does  not  hold  itself  responsible  for  all  the  views 
of  its  several  adherents.  Its  beliefs  are  to  he  judged 
by  its  standards^  {Christian  Register,  Jan.  4,  1883, 
p.  5.) 

The  position  assumed  by  Dr.  Withrow  is  perfectly  logi- 
cal. It  is  consistent  and  honorable.  Denominations  that 
have  standards  to  which  they  appeal  should  be  judged  by 
them.  Let  us  see,  then,  what  the  great  evangelical 
standards  teach  concerning  this  doctrine.  We  will  not 
pause  here  to  ask  the  question  how  far  individuals  who 
still  profess  these  creeds  have  secretly  or  openly  repu- 
diated them.  We  are  told  that  we  must  not  judge 
evangelical  bodies  by  individual  opinions.  The  appeal 
has  been  made  to  the  standards;  to  the  standards  let 
us  go. 


V 


26  THE   DOOM   OF    THE 

We  readily  grant  that  the  oldest  creed  known  to 
Christendom,  the  Apostles'  Creed,  does  not  contain  the 
doctrine ;  but  it  is  unmistakably  taught  in  the  mediaeval 
creeds  of  the  Church,  and  most  conspicuously  in  the  creeds 
of  that  branch  of  the  Christian  Church  to  which  Dr. 
Withrow  belongs,  —  Calvinistic  Orthodoxy.  As  our  argu- 
ment concerns  only  the  Protestant  belief  on  this  subject, 
we  omit  reference  to  the  Roman  Catholic  creeds,  and, 
beginning  with  the  Protestant  Reformation,  confine  our- 
selves to  those  creeds  which  are  still  the  authoritative 
standards  of  a  large  portion  of  the  Evangelical  Church. 
We  do  not  say  that  the  doctrine  of  the  doom  of  the 
majority  is  stated  in  so  many  words,  but  we  contend  that 
a  creed  is  responsible,  not  merely  for  its  definitions,  but 
for  the  inevitable  conclusions  which  must  be  drawn  from 
them.  We  shall  show,  therefore,  that  the  principal  creeds 
teach : 

1.  The  doctrine  of  the  eternal  damnation  of  the  ma- 
jority of  infants  of  the  race. 

2.  The  doctrine  of  the  eternal  damnation  of  the  great 
body  of  the  heathen  world,  constituting  the  vast  majority 
of  the  adult  portion  of  mankind. 

1,    Infant  Damnation  in  the  Creeds, 

1.  The  doctrine  of  the  damnation  of  the  majority  of 
infants  is  taught  in  creeds  which  make  salvation  depend- 
ent on  baptism. 

This  was  the  doctrine  of  Augustine.  It  is  the  doctrine 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  to-day.    It  is  also  taught  in 

THE    AUGSBURG    COI^FESSTON. 

That  Confession,  adopted  in  1530,  says :  — 
"  Art.  IX.     Of  Baptism  they  teach  that  it  is  necessary  to  salva- 
tion. .   .  .  They  condemn  the  Anabaptists,  who  allow  not  the 
baptism  of  children,  and  affirm  that  children  are  saved  without 
baptism.''^ 


MAJORITY   OF   MANKIND.  27 

Luther,  in  an  Exposition  of  Psalm  xxix.,  in  extending 
comfort  to  Christian  mothers,  based  on  the  invitation  of 

Jesus,  says :  — 

*'  We  say  that  children  are  conceived  and  born  in  sin,  and 
'cannot  be  saved  without  Christ,  to  whom  we  bring  them  in 
baptism  .  .  .  for  without  Christ  is  there  no  salvation.  There- 
fore Turkish  and  Jewish  children  are  not  saved,  since  they  are 
not  brought  to  Christ." 

Melanchthon,  who  wrote  the  Augsburg  Confession,  also 
held  the  same  views :  — 

' '  The  promise  of  grace  pertains  to  children  who  are  within  the 
Church.  It  is  certain  that  out  of  the  Church,  —  that  is,  among 
those  upon  whom  the  name  of  God  is  not  invoked  through 
baptism,  and  who  are  without  the  Gospel,  —  there  is  no  remission 
of  sins  and  participation  in  eternal  life."  (Melanchthonis  Oper., 
part.  1.  de  baptism,  infantum,  fol.  237  seq) 

He  classes  them  with  blasphemous  Jews,  Mahometans, 
and  the  enemies  of  Christ. 

Again  he  says  :  — 

"It  is  not  to  be  asserted  that  salvation  pertains  to  infants 
outside  of  the  Church,  as  without  any  evidence  the  Anabaptists 
furiously  contend." 

And  again :  — 

"  This  hypothesis  is  to  be  held,  that  infants  who  are  within 
the  Church,  upon  whom  the  name  of  Christ  has  been  invoked, 
are  received  into  grace;  not  Turks  nor  Jews." 

Zerneke,^  the  author  of  a  curious  book  on  the  "  State 
of  Infants  of  Heathen  Parents,  who  die  in  Infancy,"  after 
quoting  these  passages  from  Melanchthon,  says :  — 

1  Dissertatio  Tkeologica  de  Statu  Infantium  a  Gentilihus  progenitorum, 
cum  in  Infantia  decedunt.  Jena,  1733.  Third  edition,  — in  the  library 
of  Dr.  Ezra  Abbot,  Cambridge,  Mass.  We  find  on  the  titlepage  tlie 
names  of  Dr.  Joannes  Fecht  as  presses,  and  Jacobus  Henricus  Zerneke 
as  respondent ;  but  it  appears  from  p.  96  that  Zerneke  is  the  substantial 
author,  though  he  was  assisted  by  Fecht,  Professor  of  Theology  and 
Superintendent  at  Rostock. 


28  THE   DOOM    OF   THE 

"  From  these  it  is  easily  apparent  in  what  way  the  words  of 
the  Apology  of  the  Augsburg  Confession  are  to  be  understood, 
since  any  one  is  the  best  interpreter  of  his  own  words." 

The  Augsburg  Confession  has  always  been,  and  still  is, 
the  authoritative  standard  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  In 
the  discussion  on  "  The  Revision  of  Creeds"  in  the  North 
American  Review  for  February,  1883,  Rev.  Dr.  G.  F. 
Krotel,  speaking  for  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America,  says: 
"All  parts  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  this  country  profess 
to  receive  the  fundamental  creed  of  Lutheranism,  the 
Augsburg  Confession  ex  animoy  He  tells  us  that  "  the 
Lutheran  Church,  instead  of  going  away  from  her  stand- 
ards, is  really  coming  back  to  them." 

Rev.  Dr.  C.  P.  Krauth,  the  most  prominent  advocate  of 
Lutheranism  in  this  country,  in  his  principal  work,  "  The 
Conservative  Reformation,"  argues  that  Baptism  "  as  the 
ordinary  channel  of  Regeneration,  places  infant  salvation 
on  the  securest  ground."  In  his  "  Review  of  Dr.  Hodge's 
Systematic  Theology,"  p.  22,  Dr.  Krauth  relieves  us  some- 
what by  saying:  "As  Lutherans  we  have  a  clear  faith 
resting  on  a  specific  covenant  in  the  case  of  a  baptized 
child,  and  a  well-grounded  hope  resting  on  an  all-embrac- 
ing mercy  in  the  case  of  an  unbaptized  child."  But  this 
is  the  individual  view  of  Dr.  Krauth  ;  it  is  not  the  teaching 
of  the  Lutheran  Standards ;  nor,  as  we  have  seen,  was  it 
the  view  of  Luther  and  Melanchthon,  the  authors  of  that 
Confession.  There  is  abundant  evidence  that  Lutheran 
ministers  and  laity  still  cling  to  the  necessity  of  water- 
baptism  for  infant  salvation,  and,  like  Roman  Catholics, 
would  not  dare  to  let  their  children  die  without  it.^ 

Dr.  Philip  Schaff,  of  Union  Theological  Seminary  in 
New  York,  says :  — 

1  See  a  little  book,  "  Behind  the  Scenes,"  by  F.  M,  Jams,  Cincin- 
nati, Ohio,  —  G.  W.  Lasher,  1883,  —  in  which  confessions  are  given  of 
various  ministers  who  have  baptized  infants  to  assure  parents  of  their 
salvation.     (Chaps,  ii.  and  ix.) 


MAJORITY   OP   MANKIND.  29 

*'  All  Orthodox  systems  which  hold  to  the  necessity  of  water- 
baptism  for  salvation,  lead  to  the  horrible  conclusion  that  all 
unbaptized  infants  dying  in  infancy,  as  well  as  all  the  heathen,  — 
that  is,  by  far  the  greatest  part  of  the  hmnan  race,  past  and 
present,  —  are  lost  forever."  (^The  Harmony  of  the  Reformed 
Confessions^  p.  50.) 

The  Church  of  England,  in  her  baptismal  formula,  clearly 
teaches  the  doctrine  of  baptismal  regeneration  ;  but  though 
maintaining  that  baptized  infants  are  saved,  she  does  not 
say  that  unbaptized  infants  are  lost. 

2.  The  doctrine  of  the  damnation  of  infants  taught 
in  Calvinistic    Creeds. 

In  his  review  of  Dr.  Hodge's  "  Systematic  Theology," 
that  eminent  Lutheran  scholar  and  divine,  Dr.  C.  P. 
Krauth,  lately  deceased,  has  presented  an  overwhelming 
amount  of  testimony  concerning  "  Infant  Baptism  and 
Infant  Salvation  in  the  Calvinistic  System."  Calvinistic 
Creeds  and  Calvinistic  Fathers  have  been  placed  on  the 
witness-stand.  We  have  not  space  to  give  a  tithe  of 
the  evidence  so  thoroughly  presented ;  but,  after  rending 
it,  we  cannot  escape  his  conclusion,  that  "  Calvin's  theory 
involves  the  certain  damnation  of  the  majority  of  the 
infants  of  the  race,  and  does  not  claim  that  there  is 
distinct  evidence,  even  in  the  most  hopeful  case,  that 
any  particular  child  is  saved."     (p.  58.) 

Dr.  Philip  Schaff,  himself  a  Presbyterian,  makes  this 
candid  admission :  — 

*'  The  scholastic  Calvinists  of  the  seventeenth  century 
mounted  the  Alpine  heights  of  eternal  decrees  with  intrepid 
courage,  and  revelled  in  the  reverential  contemplation  of  the 
sovereign  majesty  of  God,  which  seemed  to  require  the  damna- 
tion of  the  great  mass  of  sinners,  including  untold  millions  of 
heathen  and  infants,  for  the  manifestation  of  his  terrible  justice. 
Inside  the  circle  of  the  elect  all  was  bright  and  delightful  in  thei 
sunshine  of  infinite  mercy,  but  outside  all  was  darker  than 
midnight. ' '    (  The  Harmony  of  the  Reformed  Confessions,  p.  47.) 


30  THE  DOOM  OF  THE 

THE  SYNOD  OF  DORT. 

At  the  Synod  of  Dort,  1619-1622,  this  question  of 
infant  damnation  came  up.  The  position  of  Calvinism  is 
unmistakable,  that  only  elect  infants  are  saved.  Against 
this  view  the  Arminians  protested;  and  their  "Apology" 
shows  the  doctrine  against  which  Episcopius  and  others 
remonstrated  :  — 

"  Why  shall  it  be  thought  absurd  or  wicked  to  say  that  God 
not  only  wills  of  his  good  pleasure  to  destroy,  but  also  to  devote 
to  the  inner  torments  of  hell,  the  larger  part  of  the  human  race, 
many  myriads  of  infants  torn  from  their  mothers'  breasts?  for 
these  are  the  horrid  inferences  which  the  school  of  Calvin  rears 
on  those  foundations,  which  consequently  the  Remonstrants  look 
upon  with  their  whole  soul  full  of  aversion  and  abhorrence." 
{Krauth,  p.  63.) 

The  Arminians  say  again  :  — 

"  We  especially  desire  to  know  from  this  venerable  Synod, 
whether  it  acknowledges  as  its  own  doctrine,  and  the  doctrine  of 
the  Church,  particularly  what  is  asserted  .  .  .  concerning  the 
creation  of  the  larger  part  of  mankind  for  destruction,  the  repro- 
bation of  infants,  even  though  born  of  believing  parents.'* 
(Acta  Synod.,  121;  Krauth,  p.  58.) 

The  Swiss  Theologians  at  Dort  say:  — 

"  That  there  is  an  election  and  reprobation  of  infants  no  less  than 
of  adults,  we  cannot  deny  in  the  face  of  God  who  loves  and 
hates  unborn  children.^'  (Acta  Synod.  Judic.  40.  See  Krauth, 
p.  15.) 

From  the  Zurich  Consensus  between  Calvin  and  the 
Zurich  ministers  :  — 

"  We  zealously  teach  that  God  does  not  promiscuously  exer- 
cise His  power  on  all  who  receive  the  Sacraments,  but  only  on 
the  elect.  He  enlightens  unto  faith  none  but  those  whom  He 
has  foreordained  unto  life. ^'     (Niemeyer,  Collect.  Conf.  195.) 

From  the  above  it  is  evident  that,  according  to  Cal- 
vinism, non-elect  infants  cannot  be  saved  by  baptism. 


MAJORITY   OP   MANKIND.  31 

Molinseus,  1568-1658,  "  one  of  the  greatest  divines  of 
the  French  Calvinistic  Church,"  defended  the  decrees  of 
the  Synod  of  Dort :  — 

"  If  one  were  to  crush  an  ant  with  his  foot,  no  one  could 
charge  him  with  injustice,  —  though  the  ant  never  offended  him, 
though  he  did  not  give  life  to  the  ant,  though  the  ant  belonged 
to  another  and  no  restitution  could  be  made.  .  .  .  The  offspring 
of  the  pious  and  faithful  are  born  with  the  infection  of  original 
sin.  ...  As  the  eggs  of  the  asp  are  deservedly  crushed,  and 
serpents  just  born  are  deservedly  killed,  though  they  have  not 
yet  poisoned  any  one  with  their  bite,  so  infants  are  justly 
obnoxious  to  penalties."     (Krauth,  p.  66.) 

Again,  Molinaeus  says  :  — 

"  We  dare  not  promise  salvation  to  any  [infant]  remaining 
outside  Christ's  covenant."     {Krauth,  p.  18.) 

The  Bremen  Theologians  at  Dort  say :  — 
"Believers'  infants  alone,  who  die  before  they  reach  the  age 
in  which  they  can  receive  instruction,  do  we  suppose  to  be  loved 
of  God,  and  saved  of  His  .  .  .  good  pleasure."    {Acta  Synod.,  63.) 

Marckius  (quoted  by  Krauth)  says :  — 

*'  Nor  is  it  to  be  doubted  that  among  these  reprobated  are  to 
be  referred  the  infants  of  unbelievers.  .  .  .  God  has  revealed 
nothing  as  decreed  or  to  be  done  for  their  salvation,  and  they 
are  destitute  of  the  ordinai'y  means  of  grace.  So  that  we  ought 
utterly  to  reject,  not  only  their  salvation,  of  which  Pelagians 
dream,  but  also  the  Remonstrant  [Arminian]  theory  that  their 
penalty  is  one  of  privation,  without  sensation.  The  terminus  to 
which  these  are  predestined  is  eternal  death,  destruction, 
damnation.^'    {Krauth,  p.  35.) 

THE    WESTMINSTER   CONFESSION. 

The  Westminster  Confession  and  Catechisms,  says  Dr. 
Philip  Schaff,  in  his  "  Harmony  of  the  Reformed  Confes- 
sions" (p.  11),  "present  the  ablest,  the  clearest,  and  the 
fullest  statement  of  the  Calvinistic  system  of  doctrine.  .  .  . 
They  have  been  adopted  not  only  by  Presbyterians,  but 
also,  with  some  modifications,  on  church  polity  and  the 


32  THE    DOOM   OF    THE 

doctrine  of  baptism,  and  with  a  reservation  of  greater 
freedom,  by  the  Orthodox  CongregationaHsts  and  the 
Kegular,  or  Calvinistic  Baptists  in  Great  Britain  and 
America." 

This  Confession  of  Faith  also  assumes  the  damnation  of 
unelect  infants. 

"  Elect  Infants  dying  in  infancy  are  regenerated  and  saved  by 
Christ,  through  the  Spirit  who  worketh  when  and  where  and 
how  he  pleaseth.  So  also  are  all  other  elect  persons  who  are 
incapable  of  being  outwardly  called  by  the  ministry  of  the 
word. 

"  Others  not  elected^  although  they  may  be  called  by  the 
ministry  of  the  word  and  may  have  some  common  operations  of 
the  Spirit,  yet  they  never  truly  come  to  Christ,  and  therefore 
cannot  be  saved. "    (^Westminster  Confession,  Chap.  X.  in.,  iv.) 

The  inevitable  conclusion  from  this  language  is  that 
while  elect  infants  are  saved,  unelect  infantg  are  certainly 
lost.  Modern  Calvinists,  repudiating  the  doctrine  of  in- 
fant damnation,  would  like  to  put  a  new  meaning  into 
these  words ;  they  would  have  us  believe  that  all  dying  in 
infancy  are  elect.  But  such  is  not  the  language,  and  such 
is  not  the  natural  meaning,  of  the  Westminster  Confes- 
sion. If  the  writers  of  it  believed  that  all  infants  were 
saved,  why  did  they  limit  the  word  infants  by  that  word 
elect'^  In  that  Confession  we  are  told  again  that  '''■every 
sin,  both  original  and  actual,  .  .  .  doth  in  its  own  na- 
ture bring  guilt  upon  the  sinner,  whereby  he  is  bound 
over  to  the  wrath  of  God  and  curse  of  the  law,  and  so 
made  subject  to  death,  with  all  miseries,  spiritual,  tem- 
poral, and  eternal.^'*     (  Westminster  Confession,  VI.  vi.) 

Thus  original  sin  is  exposed  to  the  same  penalty  as 
actual  sin,  and  nothing  in  the  Westminster  Confession 
relieves  any  infants  but  elect  ones  from  this  fate.  There 
is  not  a  line  in  that  Confession  that  teaches  that  infants 
are  saved  as  a  class.  As  Dr.  Krauth  says,  their  salvation 
depends  upon  "  an  absolute  personal  election." 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  33 

This  view  of  the  Westminster  Confession  is  confirmed 
by  a  vast  array  of  testimony  from  the  Calvinistic  writers 
of  the  time,  which  we  could  readily  present,  if  it  seemed 
necessary ;  but  perhaps  one  quotation  will  be  sufficient  to 
show  how  the  Westminster  Confession  was  understood  by 
the  men  that  made  it.  Dr.  William  Twisse  was  the  Pro- 
locutor of  the  Westminster  Assembly  of  divines.  He 
was  one  of  the  most  prominent  Calvinists  of  his  day.  In 
his  greatest  work,  "The  Vindication  of  the  Grace,  Power, 
and  Providence  of  God,"  he  says :  — 

"  Many  infants  depart  from  this  life  in  original  sin,  and  con- 
sequently are  condemned  to  eternal  death  on  account  of  original 
sin  alone:  therefore,  from  the  sole  transgression  of  Adam,  con- 
demnation to  eternal  death  has  followed  upon  many  in/ants.'^ 
(  Vindicice,  i.  48.) 

This  view  of  Twisse  was  very  extensively  held  among 
Calvinists,  not  only  in  England,  but  in  this  country.  We 
have  a  rough  poetic  monument  of  its  prevalence  in  this 
country  in  "  The  Day  of  Doom,"  by  Rev.  Michael  Wig- 
gles worth,  A.  M.,  "  teacher  of  the  Church  at  Maiden,  in 
New  England,  1662."  This  is  "  a  poetical  description  of 
the  great  and  last  Judgment."  Among  the  great  number 
of  those  who  appear  before  the  judgment-seat  are  the 
reprobate  infants,  who  piteously  plead  for  mercy :  — 

"  Then  to  the  Bar  all  they  drew  near 

Who  died  in  infancy, 
And  never  had  or  good  or  bad 

effected  pers'nally; 
But  from  the  womb  unto  the  tomb 

were  straightway  carried, 
(Or  at  the  least  ere  they  transgress'd) 

Who  thus  began  to  plead: 

*'  *  If  for  our  own  transgressi-on 
or  disobedience, 
We  here  did  stand  at  thy  left  hand, 
just  were  the  Recompense; 
3 


34  THE    DOOM   OF    THE 

But  Adam's  guilt  our  souls  hath  spilt, 
his  fault  is  charg'd  upon  us; 

And  that  alone  hath  overthrown 
and  utterly  undone  us. 

*  Not  we,  but  he  ate  of  the  Tree, 

whose  fruit  was  interdicted ; 
Yet  on  us  all  of  his  sad  Fall 

the  punishment 's  inflicted. 
How  could  we  sin  that  had  not  been, 

or  how  is  his  sin  our, 
Without  consent,  which  to  prevent 

we  never  had  the  pow'r? 

' '  O  great  Creator  why  was  our  Nature 

depraved  and  forlorn  ? 
Why  so  defil'd,  and  made  so  vil'd, 

whilst  we  were  yet  unborn? 
If  it  be  just,  and  needs  we  must 

transgressors  reckon'd  be. 
Thy  Mercy,  Lord,  to  us  afford, 

which  sinners  hath  set  free. 

'  Behold  we  see  Adam  set  free, 

and  sav'd  from  his  trespass, 
W^hose  sinful  Fall  hath  split  [spilt  ?]  us  all, 

and  brought  us  to  this  pass. 
Canst  thou  deny  us  once  to  try, 

or  Grace  to  us  to  tender, 
When  he  finds  grace  before  thy  facej 

who  was  the  chief  offender?  ' 

Then  answered  the  Judge  most  dread : 

'  God  doth  such  doom  forbid,    . 
That  men  should  die  eternally 

for  what  they  never  did. 
But  what  you  call  old  Adam's  Fall, 

and  only  his  Trespass, 
You  call  amiss  to  call  it  his; 

both  his  and  yours  it  was. 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  35 

"  *  He  was  design 'd  of  all  Mankind 

to  be  a  public  Head ; 
A  common  Root,  whence  all  should  shoot, 

and  stood  in  all  their  stead. 
He  stood  and  fell,  did  ill  or  well, 

not  for  himself  alone, 
But  for  you  all,  who  now  his  Fall 

and  trespass  would  disown. 

**  *  If  he  had  stood,  then  all  his  brood 

had  been  established 
In  God's  true  love  never  to  move, 

nor  once  awry  to  tread ; 
Then  all  his  Race  my  Father's  Grace 

should  have  enjoy'd  for  ever, 
And  wicked  Sprites  by  subtile  sleights 

could  them  have  harmed  never. 

*' '  Would  you  have  griev'd  to  have  receiv'd 

through  Adam  so  much  good  ; 
As  had  been  your  for  evermore, 

if  he  at  first  had  stood  ? 
Would  you  have  said,  "  We  ne'er  obey'd 

nor  did  thy  laws  regard  ; 
It  ill  befits  with  benefits, 

us,  Lord,  to  so  reward  ?" 

"  *  Since  then  to  share  in  his  welfare, 

you  could  have  been  content. 
You  may  with  reason  share  in  his  treason, 

and  in  the  punishment. 
Hence  you  were  born  in  state  forlorn, 

with  Natures  so  depraved ; 
Death  was  your  due  because  that  you 

had  thus  yourselves  behaved. 

"  *  You  think  "  If  we  had  been  as  he 
whom  God  did  so  betrust. 
We  to  our  cost  would  ne'er  have  lost 


all  for  a  paltry  lust 


'TlS)IVEB.-ITY)i 


36  THE   DOOM   OF   THE 

Had  you  been  made  in  Adam's  stead, 
you  would  like  things  have  wrought, 

And  so  into  the  self-same  woe, 

yourselves  and  yours  have  brought. 

^       **  *  I  may  deny  you  once  to  try, 

or  Grace  to  you  to  tender, 
Though  he  finds  Grace  before  my  face 

who  was  the  chief  offender ; 
Else  should  my  Grace  cease  to  be  Grace, 

for  it  would  not  be  free, 
If  to  release  whom  I  should  please 

1  have  no  liberty. 


(( 


'  If  upon  one  what 's  due  to  none 

I  frankly  shall  bestow , 
And  on  the  rest  shall  not  think  best 

compassion's  skirt  to  throw, 
Whom  injure  I?  will  you  envy 

and  grudge  at  others'  weal  ? 
Or  me  accuse,  who  do  refuse 

yourselves  to  help  and  heal  ? 

"  '  Am  I  alone  of  what 's  my  own, 

no  Master  or  no  Lord  ? 
And  if  I  am,  how  can  you  claim 

what  I  to  some  afford  ? 
Will  you  demand  Grace  at  my  hand, 

and  challenge  what  is  mine  ? 
Will  you  teach  me  whom  to  set  free, 

and  thus  my  Grace  confine  ? 

** '  You  sinners  are,  and  such  a  share 

as  sinners,  may  expect  ; 
Such  you  shall  have,  for  I  do  save 

none  but  mine  own  Elect. 
Yet  to  compare  your  sin  with  their 

who  liv'd  a  longer  time, 
I  do  confess  yours  is  much  less, 

though  every  sin  's  a  crime. 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  37 

*' '  A  crime  it  is,  therefore  in  bliss 
you  may  not  hope  to  dwell; 
But  unto  you  I  shall  allow 
the  easiest  room  in  Hell.''  " 

Wiggles  worth's  views  were  thus  in  entire  harmony  with 
the  Westminster  Confession  and  with  those  of  Twisse,  its 
prolocutor,  Calvin,  and  others  whom  we  have  quoted. 
The  popularity  of  his  poem  was  very  great.  "  The  lirst 
edition,"  says  John  Ward  Dean,^  "  consisting  of  eighteen 
hundred  copies,  was  sold,  with  some  profit  to  the  author, 
within  a  year  ; "  which,  considering  the  population  and 
wealth  of  New  England  at  that  time,  shows  almost  as 
remarkable  a  popularity  as  that  of  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin." 

Professor  Tyler,  in  his  "History  of  American  Litera- 
ture," says  :  ^  "  This  great  poem,  which,  with  entire  uncon- 
sciousness, attributes  to  the  Divine  Being  a  character  the 
most  execrable  and  loathsome  to  be  met  with,  perhaps,  in 
any  literature,  Christian  or  Pagan,  had  for  a  hundred 
years  a  popularity  far  exceeding  that  of  any  other  work, 
in  prose  or  verse,  produced  in  America  before  the  Revo- 
lution. .  .  .  No  narrative  of  our  intellectual  history  dur- 
ing the  colonial  days  can  justly  fail  to  record  the  enormous 
influence  of  this  terrible  poem  during  all  those  times. 
Not  only  was  it  largely  circulated  in  the  form  of  a  book, 
but  it  was  hawked  about  the  country  in  broadsides  as  a 
popular  ballad.  ...  Its  pages  were  assigned  in  course  to 
little  children  to  be  learned  by  heart  along  wdth  the  cate- 
chism ;  as  late  as  the  present  century,  there  were  in  New 
England  many  aged  persons  who  were  able  to  repeat  the 
whole  poem  ;  for  more  than  a  hundred  years  after  its  first 
publication  it  was,  beyond  question,  the  one  supreme  poem 
of  Puritan  New  England." 

1  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  for  April, 
1863. 

2  History  of  American  Literature,*vol.  ii.  p.  34. 


38  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

"  His  work,"  says  Francis  Jenks,^  "  fairly  represents  the 
prevailing  theology  of  New  England  at  the  time  it  was 
written,  and  which  Mather  thought  might  *  perhaps  find 
our  children  till  the  Day  itself  arrives.' "  Happily  that 
day  has  not  arrived,  and  the  children  of  Mather  have 
disowned  so  much  of  the  doctrine  as  relates  to  the  dam-: 
nation  of  infants. 

The  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United 
States,  which  was  organized  in  1810,  adopted  in  1813  a 
semi-Arrainian  revision  of  the  Westminster  Confession. 
Instead  of  saying,  "Elect  infants  dying  in  infancy  are 
regenerated  and  saved,"  they  changed  the  language  to 
all  infants.  The  great  body  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  America,  however,  though  they  have  individually  given 
up  the  belief  in  infant  damnation,  still  allow  this  frightful 
doctrine  to  disfigure  their  standards.  Yet  Dr.  Withrow 
tells  us  that  Orthodoxy  must  be  judged  "  by  its  standards." 
No  modern  Presbyterian  clergyman  that  we  know  of 
teaches  the  doctrine  of  infant  damnation,  but  every  Pres- 
byterian minister  is  obliged  to  subscribe  to  a  Confession 
which  teaches  it.  If  our  Calvinistic  brethren  deny  the 
doctrine  of  infant  damnation,  let  them  blot  it  out  of  their 
standards.  Either  their  standards  are  condemned  by  their 
present  beliefs  or  their  present  belief  is  condemned  by 
their  standards, 

2.    The  Damnation  of  Heathen  in  the  Creeds, 

Not  only  is  the  damnation  of  unelect  infants  and  unbap- 
tized  infants  taught  in  the  creeds,  but  the  damnation  of  the 
unconverted  heathen,  the  vast  majority  of  the  adult  por- 
tion of  mankind,  is  taught  with  even  more  emphasis  and 
uniformity. 

THE    SAXON    VISITATION    ARTICLES. 

In  the  Saxon  Articles  of  Visitation,  prepared  by  the 
Lutherans  in  1592  against  the  Calvinists,  the  Calvinists 

1  Christian  Examiner,  November,  1828. 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  39 

were  charged  with  holding,  among  others,  the  following 
errors : — 

"  That  God  created  the  greater  part  of  mankind  for  eterrval  dam- 
nation, and  wills  not  that  the  greater  part  should  be  converted 
and  live."     (Art.  iv.  On  Predestination,  2.) 

The  Calvinists  denied  that  they  taught  that  God  created 
the  greater  part  of  mankind  for  eternal  damnation,  but 
did  not  deny  that  such  was  their  destiny,  nor  did  the 
Lutherans,  generally. 

THE    THIRTY-NINE    ARTICLES. 

In  the  Thirty-Nine  Articles  of  the  Church  of  England, 
both  in  the  English  Edition  of  1571  and  the  American 
Revision  of  1801,  we  find  salvation  thus  conditioned  :  — 

"  Art.  XVIII.  They  also  are  to  be  accursed  that  presume 
to  say  that  every  man  shall  be  saved  by  the  Law  or  Sect  which 
he  professeth,  so  that  he  be  diligent  to  frame  his  life  according  to 
that  Law  and  the  light  of  Nature.  For  Holy  Scripture  doth  set 
out  unto  us  only  the  Name  of  Jesus  Christ,  whereby  men  must 
be  saved." 

This  article  is  liberally  interpreted  by  the  Church  of 
England  to-day,  although  it  undoubtedly  had  its  origin  in 
the  same  narrow  view  of  salvation  which  is  apparent  in 
the  extracts  from  the  creeds  that  follow.  Bishop  Burnet, 
in  his  celebrated  Exposition  of  the  Articles,  1699,  strug- 
gles with  the  difiiculties  and  mysteries  of  this  article  as  it 
concerns  the  heathen,  and  shows  a  charity  of  heart  and 
breadth  of  mind  which  might  be  commended  to  many  in 
our  own  day :  — 

*'  As  for  them  whom  God  has  left  in  Darkness,  they  are  cer- 
tainly out  of  the  Covenant,  out  of  those  Promises  and  Declarations 
that  are  made  in  it.  So  that  they  have  no  Federal  Right  to  be 
saved,  neither  can  we  affirm  that  they  shall  be  saved  :  But  on 
the  other  hand,  they  are  not  under  those  positive  denunciations, 
because  they  were  never  made  to  them :  Therefore  since  God  has 
not  declared  that  they  shall  be  damned,  no  more  ought  we  to 
take  upon  us  to  damn  them. 


40  THE   DOOM   OP   THE 

"  Instead  of  stretching  the  Severity  of  Justice  by  an  Inference, 
we  may  rather  venture  to  stretch  the  Mercy  of  God,  since  that 
is  the  Attribute  which  of  all  others  is  the  most  Magnificently 
spoken  of  in  the  Scriptures:  So  that  we  ought  to  think  of  it  in 
the  largest  and  most  comprehensive  manner.  But  indeed  the 
most  proper  way  is,  for  us  to  stop  where  the  Revelation  of  God 
stops:  And  not  to  be  wise  beyond  what  is  written  ;  but  to  leave 
the  secrets  of  God  as  Mysteries,  too  far  above  us  to  Examine,  or 
to  sound  their  depth."  (Exposition  of  the  Thirty- Nine  Articles. 
4th  ed.,  p.  169.) 

THE    SCOTCH   CONFESSION   OF   FAITH. 

The  Scotch  Confession  of  Faith  adopted  in  1560  is 
very  explicit  in  excluding  the  heathen  :  — 

"  We  utterly  abhorre  the  blasphemie  of  them  that  affirme, 
that  men  quhilk  live  according  to  equitie  and  justice  sal  be  saved, 
quhat  Religioun  that  ever  they  have  professed.  For  as  without 
Christ  Jesus  there  is  nouther  life  nor  salvation ;  so  sal  there  nane 
'  be  participant  hereof,  bot  sik  as  the  Father  hes  given  unto  his 
Sonne  Christ  Jesus,  and  they  that  in  time  cum  unto  him, 
avowe  his  doctrine,  and  beleeve  into  him,  we  comprehend  the 
children  with  the  faithfull  parentes."     (Art.  xvi.) 

THE    IRISH    ARTICLES    OF    RELIGION    (1615). 

"Art.  XXXI.  They  are  to  be  condemned  that  presume  to 
say  that  every  man  shall  be  saved  by  the  law  or  sect  which  he 
professeth,  so  that  he  be  diligent  to  frame  his  life  according 
to  that  law  and  the  light  of  nature.  For  holy  Scripture  doth 
set  out  unto  us  only  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  whereby  men 
must  be  saved. 

*'  Art.  XXXII.  None  can  come  unto  Christ  unless  it  be 
given  unto  him,  and  unless  the  Father  draw  him.  And  all  men 
are  not  so  drawn  by  the  Father  that  they  may  come  unto  the 
Son.  Neither  is  there  such  a  sufficient  measure  of  grace  vouch- 
safed unto  every  man,  whereby  he  is  enabled  to  come  unto 
everlasting  life." 

THE    LAMBETH    ARTICLES. 

This  limitation  in  the  Irish  Articles  was  a  reiteration 
of  the   same   doctrine  seen  in  the  Lambeth  Articles,  a 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  41 

Calvinistic  appendix  to  the  Thirty-Nine  Articles,  com- 
posed in  1595: — 

"I.  God  from  eternity  hath  predestinated  certain  men  unto 
life  ;  certain  men  he  hath  reprobated." 

"  III.  There  is  predetermined  a  certain  number  of  the  pre- 
destinate which  can  neither  be  augmented  nor  diminished. 

"  IV.  Those  who  are  not  predestinated  to  salvation  shall  be 
necessarily  damned  for  their  sins." 

"  VII.  Saving  grace  is  not  given,  is  not  granted,  is  not  com- 
municated to  all  men,  by  which  they  may  be  saved  if  they 
will. 

*'  VIII.  No  man  can  come  unto  Christ  unless  it  shall  be  given 
unto  him,  and  unless  the  Father  shall  draw  him;  and  all  men 
are  not  drawn  by  the  Father,  that  they  may  come  to  the  Son. 

"IX.  It  is  not  in  the  will  or  power  of  every  one  to  be 
saved." 

THE    CANONS    OF   DORT. 

The  Canons  of  the  Synod  of  Dort  were  adopted-  in 
1618  and  1619.  They  are  very  strong  in  their  definitions 
of  election,  and  in  their  denial  of  salvation  through  the 
light  of  nature.  These  Canons  are  still  in  force  in  the 
Reformed  (Dutch)  Church  in  America,  and  the  text  from 
which  we  quote  is  taken  from  the  "  Constitution  of  the 
Reformed  Church  in  America,"  published  in  New  York 
(Schaff,  Creeds^  <jbc.,  vol.  iii.  p.  581) :  — 

*'  First  head  of  Doctrine,  art.  vii.  Election  is  the  un- 
changeable purpose  of  God,  whereby,  before  the  foundation  of 
the  world,  he  hath,  out  of  mere  grace,  according  to  the  sovereign 
good  pleasure  of  his  own  will,  chosen,  from  the  whole  human 
race,  which  had  fallen  through  their  own  fault  from  their  primi- 
tive state  of  rectitude  into  sin  and  destruction,  a  certain  number 
of  persons  to  redemption  in  Christ." 

"  Art.  x.  ...  He  was  pleased,  out  of  the  common  mass  of 
sinners,  to  adopt  some  certain  persons  as  a  peculiar  people  to 
himself.  ..." 

Under  the  third  and  fourth  heads  of  doctrine  it  effect- 
ually excludes  the  heathen  :  — 


42  THE   DOOM   OF   THE 

'*  Art.  IV.  There  remain,  however,  in  man  since  the  fall, 
the  glimmerings  of  natural  light,  whereby  he  retains  some 
knowledge  of  God,  of  natural  things,  and  of  the  difference 
between  good  and  evil,  and  discovers  some  regard  for  virtue, 
good  order  in  society,  and  for  maintaining  an  orderly  external 
deportment.  But  so  far  is  this  light  of  nature  from  being 
sufficient  to  bring  him  to  a  saving  knowledge  of  God  and  to 
true  conversion,  that  he  is  incapable  of  using  it  aright,  even  in 
things  natural  and  civil.  Nay,  farther,  this  light,  such  as  it  is, 
man  in  various  ways  renders  wholly  polluted,  and  holds  it  [back] 
in  unrighteousness,  by  which  he  becomes  inexcusable  before 
God." 

THE    WESTMINSTER    CONFESSION. 

But  we  have  been  especially  challenged  to  quote  the 
Westminster  Confession  in  proof  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
doom  of  the  majority,  —  and  strangely  enough,  by  one  who 
has  signed  the  creed,  and  who  professes  to  accept  it.  We 
have  already  quoted  that  confession  to  show  that,  histori- 
cally interpreted,  it  teaches  infant  damnation.  Its  belief 
in  the  damnation  of  the  heathen  is  positive,  and  unam- 
biguous. \ 

"  Others,  not  elected,  although  they  may  be  called  by  the  min- 
istry of  the  Word,  and  may  have  some  common  operations  of 
the  Spirit ;  yet  they  never  truly  come  unto  Christ,  and  therefore 
cannot  he  saved  :  much  less  can  men,  not  professing  the  Christian 
religion,  be  saved  in  any  other  way  whatsoever,  be  they  never 
so  diligent  to  frame  their  lives  according  to  the  light  of  nature 
and  the  law  of  that  religion  they  do  profess ;  and  to  assert  and 
maintain  that  they  may  is  very  pernicious  and  to  he  detested." 
(^Confession,  X.  iv.) 

In  the  Westminster  Assembly's  "Larger  Catechism," 
question  60,  the  heathen  are  again  condemned  :  — 

"  Q.  60.  Can  they  who  have  never  heard  the  gospel,  and  so 
know  not  Jesus  Christ,  nor  believe  in  him,  be  saved  by  their 
living  according  to  the  light  of  nature  ? 

"^.  They  who,  having  never  heard  the  gospel,  know  not 
Jesus  Christ,  and  believe  not  in  him,  cannot  be  saved,  be  they 


MAJORITY   OF   MANKIND.  43 

never  so  diligent  to  frame  theij-  lives  according  to  the  light  of 
nature  or  the  law  of  that  religion  which  they  profess;  neither  is 
there  salvation  in  any  other,  but  in  Christ  alone,  who  is  the 
Saviour  only  of  his  body,  the  Church." 

We  are  further  told  that  — 

"  All  that  hear  the  Gospel  and  live  in  the  visible  Church  are 
not  saved ;  but  only  they  who  are  true  members  of  the  Church 
invisible.  .  .  .  The  invisible  Church  is  the  whole  number  of  the 
elect."     (Q.  61,  64.) 

The  Westminster  Confession  and  Catechism  thus  teach : 
(1)  that  only  elect  infants  are  saved ;  (2)  that  only  a  part 
of  the  visible  Church  is  saved ;  (3)  that  the  heathen  who 
never  heard  the  gospel  are  damned.  It  requires  no 
arithmetic  to  deduce  from  the  Westminster  Catechism 
the  doctrine  of  the  "  vast  majority  of  the  lost."  On  the 
contrary,  it  requires  some  new  and  miraculous  system  of 
arithmetic  to  deduce  from  it  anything  else. 

The  older  and  regular  Congregational  creeds  agree 
substantially  with  the  Westminster  Confession  on  doctri- 
nal points. 

THE    SAVOY   DECLARATION. 

The  Savoy  Declaration  was  adopted  by  the  Elders  and 
Messengers  of  the  English  Congregational  Churches  in 
1658.  It  is  simply  the  Westminster  Creed  corrected  to 
suit  the  Congregational  polity,  and  excludes  the  heathen 
from  salvation :  — 

"  This  promise  of  Christ,  and  salvation  by  him,  is  revealed 
only  in  and  by  the  Word  of  God ;  neither  do  the  works  of  crea- 
tion or  providence,  with  the  light  of  nature,  make  discovery  of 
Christ,  or  of  grace  by  him,  so  much  as  in  a  general  or  obscure 
way ;  much  less  that  men,  destitute  of  the  revelation  of  him  by 
the  promise  or  gospel,  should  be  enabled  thereby  to  attain 
saving  faith  or  repentance."     (Chap.  XX.  ii.) 

The  Savoy  Declaration  adds  some  words  to  the  tenth 
chapter  of  the  Westminster  Confession,  which  bolt  the 
door  against  the  heathen  more  effectually  than  ever :  — 


44  THE    DOOM   OF    THE 

"  Others  not  elected,  although  they  maybe  called  by  the  min- 
istry of  the  Word,  and  may  have  some  common  operations  of 
the  Spirit,  yet  not  being  effectually  drawn  by  the  Father,  they 
neither  do  nor  can  come  unto  Christ,  and  therefore  cannot  be 
saved  :  much  less  can  men,  not  professing  the  Christian  religion 
be  saved  in  any  other  way  whatsoever,  be  they  never  so  diligent 
to  frame  their  lives  according  to  the  light  of  nature  and  the  law 
of  that  religion  they  do  profess;  and  to  assert  and  maintain 
that  they  may  is  very  pernicious  and  to  be  detested." 

AMERICAN   CONGREGATIONAL    CREEDS. 

The  "  Elders  and  Messengers  of  the  churches  assembled 
in  the  Synod  at  Cambridge,  in  New  England,"  in  June, 
1648,  declare  the  Westminster  Confession,  published  the 
previous  year,  "  to  be  very  holy,  orthodox,  and  judicious  in 
all  matters  of  faith ;  and  do  therefore  freely  and  fully  con- 
sent thereunto  for  the  substance  thereof."  Finding  the 
Confession  doctrinally  sufficient,  the  Cambridge  Synod 
confined  itself  to  an  exposition  of  the  Congregational 
polity. 

The  Synod  of  New  England  Congregational  Churches, 
held  at  Boston  in  1680,  accepted  and  republished  the 
Savoy  revision  of  the  Westminster  Confession ;  passages 
from  which,  excluding  the  heathen  from  salvation,  we 
have  quoted  above. 

The  Saybrook  Platform,  adopted  by  the  Elders  and 
Messengers  of  the  churches  in  the  Colony  of  Connecticut, 
assembled  at  Saybrook,  September  9,  1708,  recognizes  and 
endorses  the  Westminster,  Boston,  and  Savoy  confessions 
as  its  doctrinal  foundation,  and  thus  reasserts  the  damna- 
tion of  the  heathen. 

THE    PLYMOUTH    DECLARATION. 

In  the  doctrinal  agitation  which  arose  with  the  Unita- 
rian controversy,  about  thirty-four  of  the  oldest  churches 
in  New  England  —  comprising  the  greater  part  of  the 
churches  whose  elders  and  messengers  adopted  the  Boston 


MAJORITY   OF    MANKIND.  45 

Confession  —  entirely  renounced  the  Calvinistic  system, 
and  appealed  in  a  larger  and  more  generous  way  to  New 
Testament  Christianity,  as  superior  to  Confessional  inter- 
pretations. But  the  Orthodox  part  of  the  Congregational 
body,  as  late  as  1865,  in  its  Declaration  of  Faith  adopted 
at  Plymouth,  Mass.,  freely  and  gratefully  accepted  the 
"dark  and  awful"  doctrines  embodied  in  the  Boston 
Confession  of  1680,  which  was  a  republication  of  the 
horrors  of  the  Savoy  and  Westminster  confessions  quoted 
above : — 

*'  Standing  by  the  rock  where  the  Pilgrims  set  foot  upon  these 
shores,  upon  the  spot  where  they  worshipped  God,  and  among 
the  graves  of  the  early  generations,  we.  Elders  and  Messengers  of 
the  Congregational  Churches  of  the  United  States  in  National 
Council  assembled, — like  them  acknowledging  no  rule  of  faith 
but  the  Word  of  God,  —  do  now  declare  our  adherence  to  the 
faith  and  order  of  the  apostolic  and  primitive  churches  held  by 
our  fathers,  and  substantially  as  embodied  in  the  confessions 
and  platforms  which  our  Synods  of  1648  and  1680  set  forth  or 
reaffirmed.  We  declare  that  the  experience  of  the  nearly  two 
and  a  half  centuries  which  have  elapsed  since  the  memorable 
day  when  our  sires  founded  here  a  Christian  Commonwealth, 
with  all  the  development  of  new  forms  of  error  since  their 
times,  has  only  deepened  our  confidence  in  the  faith  and  polity 
of  those  fathers.  We  bless  God  for  Ihe  inheritance  of  these  doc- 
trines. We  invoke  the  help  of  the  Divine  Redeemer  that, 
through  the  presence  of  the  promised  Comforter,  he  will  enable 
us  to  transmit  them  in  purity  to  our  children.  ^^ 

Blessing  God  for  the  inheritance  of  a  doctrine  which 
damns  the  vast  majority  of  the  human  race  to  endless 
woe !  Praying  that  the  Divine  Redeemer  would  enable 
them  to  transmit  these  horrors  in  purity  to  their  children ! 
There  are  many  things  to  be  profoundly  grateful  for  in 
the  old  Puritan  heritage,  but  these  are  not  a  part  of  them. 
We  may  forgive  the  men  of  two  hundred  years  ago  for 
believing  in  mediasval  superstitions;  but  what  shall  we 
say  of  those  who,  in  all  the  light  of  our  own  day,  reaflSrm 


46  THE   DOOM   OF    THE 

them?  Their  Elders  and  Messengers  of  1865  might  have 
found  a  better  occasion  for  gratitude  in  the  joyous  con- 
sciousness that  they  were  at  liberty  to  correct  the  errors 
of  their  fathers,  and  to  give  to  the  Evangelical  conception 
of  Christianity  a  new  breadth,  by  affirming  those  spiritual 
truths  of  which  the  Westminster  Confession  is  but  a 
ghastly  parody.  It  is  a  pleasure,  however,  to  record  the 
increased  influence  which  the  Liberal  minority  in  the 
Orthodox  Congregational  body  has  achieved,  an  influence 
strong  enough  to  render  the  passage  of  the  Burial  Hill 
Declaration  inexpedient  to-day,  if  not  impracticable. 

CBEED  OF  THE  PARK  STREET  CHURCH. 

Assent  to  the  old  creeds,  or  abridgments  of  them, 
which  contain  the  doctrines  we  arraign,  is  still  required, 
however,  in  many  of  the  most  representative  Orthodox 
churches.  The  following  are  the  articles  which  the  pastor 
and  deacons  of  Park  Street  Church,  Boston,  are  required 
to  sign  :  — 

*'  First.  We  believe  that  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament  are  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  only  perfect  rule  of 
Christian  faith  and  practice. 

''  Second.  We  profess  our  decided  attachment  to  that  system 
of  the  Christian  religion  which  is  distinguishingly  denominated 
Evangelical ;  more  particularly  to  those  doctrines,  which  in  a 
proper  sense,  are  styled  the  Doctrines  of  Grace,  viz :  '  That  there 
is  one  and  but  one  living  and  true  God,  subsisting  in  three  per- 
sons, the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost;  and  that 
these  Three  are  the  one  God,  the  same  in  substance,  equal  in 
power  and  glory;  that  God  from  all  eternity,  according  to  the 
counsel  of  His  own  will,  and  for  His  own  glory,  foreordained 
whatsoever  comes  to  pass ;  that  God  in  His  most  holy,  wise,  and 
powerful  providence  preserves  and  governs  all  His  creatures 
and  all  their  actions ;  that,  by  the  Fall,  all  mankind  lost  com- 
munion with  God,  are  under  His  wrath  and  curse,  and  liable  to 
all  the  miseries  of  this  life,  to  death  itself,  and  to  the  pains  of 
hell  forever ;  that  God  out  of  His  mere  good  pleasure,  from  all 


MAJORITY   OF   MANKIND.  47 

eternity  elected  some  to  everlasting  life,  entered  into  a  covenant 
of  grace,  to  deliver  them  from  a  state  of  sin  and  misery,  and 
introduce  them  into  a  state  of  salvation  by  a  Redeemer ;  that 
this  Redeemer  is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  eternal  Son  of 
God,  who  became  man,  and  continues  to  be  God  and  man  in 
two  distinct  natures  and  one  person  forever;  that  the  effectual 
calling  of  sinners  is  the  work  of  God's  Spirit;  that  their  justifi- 
cation is  only  for  the  sake  of  Christ's  righteousness  by  faith.* 
And  though  we  deem  no  man  or  body  of  men  infallible,  yet  we 
believe  that  those  divines  that  were  eminently  distinguished  in 
the  time  of  the  Reformation,  possessed  the  spirit,  and  maintained 
in  great  purity,  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  our  holy  religion ;  and 
that  these  doctrines  are  in  general  clearly  and  happily  expressed 
in  the  Westminster  Assembly's  Shorter  Catechism,  and  in  the 
Confession  of  Faith  owned  and  consented  unto  by  the  Elders 
and  Messengers  of  the  Churches,  assembled  at  Boston  (N.  E.), 
May  12th,  a.  d.  1680." 

The  creed  of  Park  Street  Church  thus  asserts  that  "  all 
mankind  lost  communion  with  God,  are  under  his  wrath 
and  curse,  and  liable  to  all  the  miseries  of  this  life,  to 
de.'ith  itself,  and  to  the  pains  of  hell  forever."  "  Some^"* 
we  are  told,  "  are  elected  to  everlasting  life.'*  If  we  wish 
to  know  how  vast  a  majority  of  the  human  race  are  ex- 
cluded from  this  elected  "  some,"  we  turn  to  the  Boston 
Confession  to  which  we  have  been  referred  by  the  Park 
Street  Creed  itself,  and  read  the  implied  damnation  of 
unelect  infants,  and  the  expressed  damnation  of  the  great 
body  of  the  heathen  world :  — 

"III.  Elect  Infants  dying  in  Infancy  are  Regenerated  and 
Saved  by  Christ,  who  worketh  when  and  where  and  how  he 
pleaseth:  So  also  are  all  other  Elect  Persons,  who  are  uncapable 
of  being  outwardly  called  by  the  Ministry  of  the  Word." 

"  IV.  Others  not  elected,  although  they  may  be  called  by  the 
Ministry  of  the  Word,  and  may  have  some  common  Operations 
of  the  Spirit,  yet  not  being  effectually  drawn  by  the  Father, 
they  neither  do  nor  can  come  unto  Christ,  and  therefore  cannot 
be  saved;  much  less  can  these,  not  professing  the  Christian 
Religion,  be  saved  in  any  other  way  whatsoever,  be  they  never 


48  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

SO  diligent  to  frame  their  Lives  according  to  the  Light  of  Nature 
and  the  Law  of  that  Religion  they  do  profess  :  And  to  assert 
and  maintain  that  they  may,  is  very  pernicious  and  to  be 
detested."     (Chap,  x.) 

Whatever  may  be  the  personal  opinions  of  the  pastor 
of  Park  Street  Church,  the  creed  which  he  is  required  to 
subscribe  teaches  this  "  dark  and  awful  doctrine,"  and  we 
have  no  doubt  that  there  is  still  sung  in  Park  Street 
Church,  to  the  doleful  tune  of  "  Windham,"  a  hymn  run- 
ning:— 

"  Broad  is  the  road  that  leads  to  death. 

And  thousands  walk  together  there  ; 

But  wisdom  shows  a  narrow  path, 

With  here  and  there  a  traveller." 

Sixty  years  ago  Prof.  Andrews  Norton,  when  engaged 
in  a  controversy  on  the  teachings  of  Calvinism,  felt  obliged 
to  say  of  some  of  his  opponents :  — 

"  Instead  of  endeavoring  to  maintain,  they  have  denied  the 
doctrines  of  their  own  system.  They  have  had  the  assurance 
to  assert  that  that  was  not  Calvinism  which  for  almost  three  cen- 
turies every  theologian  has  known  and  acknowledged  to  be 
Calvinism.  They  have  refused,  when  pressed  hardly,  and  the 
occasion  has  required  it,  to  acknowledge  the  fundamental  doc- 
trines of  their  own  creeds  and  confessions  and  standard  writers. 
They  have  not  given  them  up  explicitly  and  honestly,  and  said 
they  could  not  defend  them,  but  they  have,  in  fact,  denied  the 
Calvinistic  faith,  at  the  very  moment  they  have  been  pretending 
to  support  it,  and  have  been  reviling  those  by  whom  it  was 
openly  opposed."  —  Christian  Disciple^  1822,  p.  263. 

These  strictures  of  Professor  Norton  are  not  without 
their  application  to-day. 

We  have  presented  evidence  from  the  principal  Evan- 
gelical Creeds  of  Christendom,  w^hich  we  submit,  honestly 
and  historically  interpreted,  clearly  teach  this  doctrine  of 
the  damnation  of  the  majority.  We  could  frame  no  blacker 
indictment  of  Christianity  than  is  presented  in  these  docu- 
ments ;  and  let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  they  are  still  the 
acknowledged  standards  of  Evangelical  Protestantism. 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  49 


III. 

The  Doctrine  of  the  Doom  of  the  Majority  still 
taught  by  evangelical  denominations. 

Having  shown  that  this  doctrine  has  been  alleged  by 
Orthodoxy  to  be  the  teaching  of  the  Scripture,  and  that 
it  is  taught  in  its  authoritativ^e  standards,  we  purpose 
now  to  show  that  it  is  still  held,  taught,  and  urged  as  a 
practical  motive  by  Evangelical  denominations.  Ortho- 
doxy has  abandoned  its  former  belief  in  infant  damna- 
tion, though  the  piteous  cries  of  damned  children  still 
echo  from  the  pages  of  its  creeds.  It  no  longer  deduces 
that  doctrine  from  Scripture  teaching.  But  it  has  never 
surrendered  the  doctrine  that  the  vast  majority  of  man- 
kind are  doomed  to  eternal  misery.  The  horror  still 
appears  in  its  literature,  is  still  preached  in  its  pulpits  and 
taught  in  its  Sunday-schools. 

There  are  three  legitimate  ways  of  finding  fairiy  what 
a  denomination  teaches,  all  of  which  must  be  employed. 
First,  we  may  appeal  to  its  standards.  There  are  some 
who  say,  with  Dr.  Withrow,  that  this  is  the  only  proper 
way.  Secondly,  we  may  appeal  to  prominent  and  acknowl- 
edged representatives.  That  is,  we  may  appeal,  not  only 
to  its  standards,  but  to  its  standard  hearers  —  to  the  men 
that  conduct  its  theological  schools,  train  its  ministers, 
fill  its  representative  pulpits,  and  create  its  literature. 
It  is  necessary  to  compare  its  creeds  with  its  current 
teachings.  Thirdly,  we  may  examine  its  practical  mis- 
sionary motive  as  well  as  its  theoretical  teaching. 

We  have  already  appealed  to  the  standards  ;  and  have 
found  the  doctrine  we  assail  distinctly  taught  in  them. 
Let  us  now  appeal  to  its  modern  and  representative 
spokesmen,  and  examine  its  practical  missionary  motive. 

4 


60  THE   DOOM   OF    THE 

DR.    EMMONS'S   TEACHING. 

We  have  referred  before  to  Dr.  Emmons.  In  the  course 
of  his  long  pastorate,  he  trained  nearly  a  hundred  students 
for  the  ministry.  He  was  interested,  too,  in  the  formation 
of  Andover  Seminary.  "  Perhaps  no  theological  instructor 
in  the  land,"  says  Dr.  Park,  "  has  come  so  near  as  Emmons 
to  spreading  his  pupils  through  an  entire  century."  And 
what  did  Dr.  Emmons  teach  his  pupils,  as  well  as  the 
people  that  sat  under  his  ministration  ?  A  few  extracts 
will  show :  — 

' '  Though  there  are  only  a  few  of  his  people  who  are  conformed 
to  his  image,  and  the  great  mass  of  mankind  are  opposed  to  his 
little  flock,  and  conspiring  to  destroy  it,  yet  all  that  his  Father 
has  given  him  shall  come  to  him."     (Vol.  ii.  p.  386.) 

"This  doctrine  [of  reprobation]  cannot  be  preached  too 
plainly.  It  ought  to  be  represented  as  God's  eternal  and 
effectual  purpose  to  destroy  the  non-elect.  God  could  not  repro- 
bate any  from  eternity  without  intending  to  carry  his  eternal 
purpose  into  execution."     (Vol.  ii.  p.  401.) 

"  If  the  good  of  the  intelligent  creation  in  general  may  some- 
times require  God  to  give  up  the  good  of  individuals,  then  it  may, 
for  aught  we  know,  require  him  to  give  up  the  good  of  individuals 
forever.  If  the  general  good  of  mankind  once  required  the 
temporal  destruction  of  Pharaoh  and  his  hosts,  who  knows  but 
the  general  good  of  the  whole  intelligent  creation  may  also  require 
their  eternal  destruction  ?  Therefore,  allowing  that  God  does,  in 
this  sense,  aim  supremely  and  solely  at  the  general  good  of  the 
intelligent  creation,  yet  he  may,  nevertheless,  make  myriads  and 
myriads  of  individuals  finally  and  eternally  miserable."  (Vol. 
iii.  p.  779.) 

"  If  all  are  sinners  in  consequence  of  Adam's  first  transgres- 
sion, then  all  have  need  of  embracing  the  gospel.  No  other 
way  of  salvation  is  provided."     (Vol.  ii.  p.  612.) 

Dr.  Emmons  even  teaches  that  Arminians  will  be  in- 
cluded among  the  doomed  majority. 

"If  God  is  to  be  justified  in  his  treatment  of  Pharaoh  and 
of  all  the  rest  of  the  non-elect,  then  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  51 

approve  of  the  doctrine  of  reprobation  in  order  to  he  saved.  None 
can  be  admitted  to  heaven  who  are  not  prepared  to  join  in  the 
employments  as  well  as  the  enjoyments  of  the  heavenly  world. 
And  we  know  that  one  part  of  the  business  of  the  blessed  is  to 
celebrate  the  doctrine  of  reprobation.  They  sing  the  Song  of 
Moses  and  the  Lamb,  which  is  an  anthem  of  praise  for  the 
destruction  of  Pharaoh  and  his  reprobate  host.  How,  then,  can 
any  be  meet  for  an  inheritance  among  the  saints  in  light,  who 
are  not  reconciled  to  the  doctrine  of  reprobation,  which  is,  and 
which  will  be  forever,  celebrated  there?  "     (Vol.  ii.  p.  402.) 

According  to  this  view,  Methodists,  and  Arminians 
among  all  the  denominations,  stand  a  poor  chance. 

Dr.  Emmons  also  shows  that  character  and  good  works 
will  not  avail  in  the  slightest :  — 

"We  learn  from  what  has  been  said  why  none  of  the  works 
of  sinners  will  be  accepted  at  the  last  day.  Our  Saviour,  who 
will  be  the  final  Judge,  has  absolutely  declared  that  he  will  con- 
demn all  sinners  and  all  their  works  without  distinction  in  the 
great  day  of  account.  And  though  they  may  plead  that  they 
have  fed  the  hungry,  clothed  the  naked,  visited  the  sick,  and 
done  many  deeds  of  apparent  humanity  and  benevolence,  yet  he 
will  reject  and  punish  them  for  that  criminal  selfishness  which 
was  the  source  of  all  their  actions.  And  this  will  be  a  sufficient 
reason  for  their  everlasting  perdition."     (Vol.  ii.  p.  644.) 

Dr.  Emmons  further  shows  that  God  created  men  espe- 
cially to  damn  them  for  his  good  pleasure  :  — 

*'  Now,  if  God  be  capable  of  great  and  noble  designs,  if  he 
be  capable  of  great  and  noble  exertions,  and  capable  of  taking 
a  true,  real,  infinite  pleasure  and  delight  in  all  his  works,  then 
it  is  easy  to  conceive  that  he  might  make  his  own  pleasure,  his 
own  blessedness  or  glory,  the  grand  and  supreme  object  in  all 
his  works  of  creation  and  providence,  and  have  but  an  inferior 
and  subordinate  respect  to  the  good  of  the  creature.  Accordingly, 
the  Scripture  represents  this  as  his  ultimate  and  supreme  end  in 
the  creation  of  the  world.  '  The  Lord  hath  made  all  things  for 
himself;  yea,  even  the  wicked  for  the  day  of  evil.' "  {The  Pro- 
cess of  the  General  Judgment^  Works,  vol.  iii.,  p.  780.) 

These  are  the  teachings  which  the  Congregational  Pub- 
lication Society  republishes  in  1860. 


52  THE  DOOM  OF  THE 

DR.  ENOCH  pond's  TEACHING. 

Let  US  take  another  Orthodox  theological  school,  that 
at  Bangor,  Me.,  and  turn  to  the  teachings  of  its  venerable 
and  respected  president.  Rev.  Enocli  Pond,  D.D.,  who 
died  in  January,  1882.  In  an  article  on  "The  Future 
of  the  Heathen,"  in  the  Christian  Remew^  Dr.  Pond 
writes  with  the  terrible  earnestness  of  one  who  accepts 
the  logical  consequences  of  this  doctrine,  and  whose  spirit 
of  benevolence  is  stirred  to  the  depths  for  the  relief  of 
the  damned. 

"  The  conclusion,  therefore,  remains  unshaken,  notwithstand- 
ing all  the  objections  which  may  be  urged  against  it,  that  the 
end  of  heathenism  is  eternal  death,  and  that  the  great  body  of  the 
adult  heathen  (for  we  believe  that  infants  are  saved  the  world 
over)  will  lose  their  souls  forever. 

"  And  now,  what  a  dreadful  conclusion  is  this!  Let  us  pause 
and  ponder  it,  and  not  be  in  haste  to  dismiss  it  from  our  minds. 
Not  less  than  six  hundred  millions  of  the  present  inhabitants  of 
our  globe  are  heathens.  Three  fourths  of  this  number  are  adult 
heathens.  Each  one  of  these  is  an  immortal  creature,  destined 
to  outlive  the  stars,  destined  to  exist  forever. 

"Now  they  have  a  season  of  probation;  but  this  is  rapidly 
and,  in  respect  to  successive  multitudes  of  them,  constantly 
coming  to  a  close.  A  mighty  stream  is  ever  pouring  them  over 
the  boundaries  of  time ;  and,  when  once  they  have  passed  these 
boundaries,  where  do  they  fall  ?  Alas!  we  have  seen  where! 
They  fall  to  rise  no  more.  They  sink  in  darkness,  misery,  and 
despair.  They  go  to  be  treated  not  hardly  or  cruelly,  but  justly ; 
go  to  Him  by  whom  "  actions  are  weighed;  "  go  to  be  punished 
as  their  sins  deserve,  forever.  Now  these  are  not  fictions,  but 
facts,  —  facts  fully  established  by  the  Scriptures,  and  proved 
incontestably  in  the  preceding  remarks.  And  are  they  not  stun- 
ning, overwhelming  facts,  —  sufficient,  and  more  than  sufficient, 
to  rouse  up  every  Christian's  heart? 

"  Here  is  a  broad  current  rushing  downward  from  the  heathen 
world  into  that  lake  which  burneth  with  unquenchable  fire,  on 
which  hundreds  of  millions  of  immortal  beings  are  descending, 
and  by  which  thousands  upon  thousands  are  every  day  destroyed ; 


MAJORITY   OF   MANKIND.  53 

» 

and  shall  we  sit  down  and  contemplate  such  a  scene,  shall  we  be 
able  to  speak  and  write  about  it  unmoved  ?  Or  shall  not  each 
one  rather  exclaim,  in  accents  prompted  by  Christian  love:  — 

*  My  God,  I  feel  the  mournful  scene  ! 
My  spirits  yearn  o'er  dying  men  ! 
And  fain  my  pity  would  reclaim, 
And  snatch  the  firebrands  from  the  flame.'  ** 

(^Christian  Review^  vol.  xxii.  1857,  p.  41.) 


There  is  also  an  Orthodox  theological  seminary  at  New 
York,  and  Dr.  W.  G.  T.  Shedd  is  one  of  its  eminent  pro- 
fessors. In  a  sermon  delivered  before  the  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  May  3,  1863,  entitled  "The 
Guilt  of  the  Pagan,"  and  published  by  the  American  Board 
in  1864,  Dr.  Shedd  says  :  — 

"  Unless  the  guilt  of  the  pagan  world  can  be  proved,  the  mis- 
sionary enterprises  of  the  Christian  church,  from  the  days  of 
the  Apostles  to  the  present  time,  have  all  been  a  waste  of  labor." 
(p.  1.) 

**  It  follows  inevitably  from  these  positions  of  St.  Paul  con- 
cerning the  guilt  of  the  pagan,  that  nothing  hut  revealed  religion 
can  save  him  from  an  eternity  of  sin  and  icoe.'*     (p.  21.) 

"  Our  Lord  and  Saviour  knew  infallibly  how  many  millions 
upon  millions  of  the  race  for  whom  he  proposed  to  pour  out  his 
life-blood  would  reject  him.  He  knew  long  beforehand  how 
many  millions  upon  millions  of  this  miserable  and  infatuated  race 
would  resist  and  ultimately  quench  the  only  Spirit  that  could 
renovate  and  save  them."     (p.  23.) 

"It  is  this  dark  and  awful  fact,"  says  Dr.  Shedd  in 
closing  his  sermon,  —  dark  and  awful  it  truly  seems,  — 
"that  the  Church  of  Christ  is  continually  to  keep  in  mind." 
(p.  22.)  The  Prudential  Committee  of  the  American 
Board  were  so  impressed  with  the  force  of  this  argument 
that  they  directed  a  copy  of  the  sermon  to  be  sent  to  the 
pastors  of  the  various  churches  which  contribute  to  the 


54  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

treasury  of  the  American  Board.  The  secretary,  Rev.  S. 
B.  Treat,  indorsing  his  position,  says,  "  The  entire  heathen 
world  is  guilty,  condemned,  lost^  (The  Italics  are  his.) 
This  is  still  the  position  of  the  American  Board.  It  bases 
its  appeals  on  this  "  dark  and  awful  fact."  Dr.  Edwards 
A.  Park,  at  the  great  missionary  meeting  in  Portland, 
in  October,  1882,  and  in  a  subsequent  discourse,  took 
substantially  the  same  position,  and  asserted  that  the  mis- 
sionary nerve  would  be  cut  if  a  probation  after  death 
were  allowed  to  the  heathen. 

REV.   ALBERT    BARNES,   D.  D. 

Rev.  Albert  Barnes  was  a  leading  preacher  and  writer 
in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  In  the  following  passage 
from  one  of  his  sermons  the  great  mjijority  of  mankind 
are  excluded  from  all  hope  of  heaven  :  — 

*'  The  admission  that  the  Christian  religion  is  true  is  a  con- 
demnation of  all  other  systems,  and  shuts  out  all  who  are  not 
interested  in  the  plan  of  the  gospel  from  all  hope  of  heaven." 
{The  Way  of  Salvation,  p.  12.) 

As  we  shall  see  further  on,  Dr.  Barnes  struggled  hard 
with  the  terrible  mystery  of  this  doctrine. 

REV.    A.    A.    HODGE,    D.  D. 

Dr.  A.  A.  Hodge  of  Princeton  Theological  Seminary, 
in  his  Commentary  on  the  Confession  of  Faith  (1869), 
admits  without  a  sign  of  hesitancy  the  damnation  of 
the  majority. 

"  That  the  diligent  profession  and  honest  practice  of  neither 
natural  religion,  nor  of  any  other  religion  than  pure  Christianity 
can  in  the  least  avail  to  promote  the  salvation  of  the  soul,  is 
evident  from  the  essential  principles  of  the  gospel."  {Commen- 
tary on  Conf.,  p.  241.) 

"  That  in  the  case  of  sane  adult  persons  a  knowledge  of 
Christ  and  a  voluntary  acceptance  of  him  is  essential  in  order 
to  a  personal   interest  in  his  salvation  is  proved  —  (1^  Paul 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  55 

argues  this  point  explicitly  :  If  men  call  upon  the  Lord  they 
shall  be  saved;  but  in  order  to  call  upon  him  they  must  believe; 
and  in  order  to  believe  they  must  hear;  and  that  they  should 
hear  the  gospel  must  be  preached  unto  them.  ...  (2)  God  has 
certainly  revealed  no  purpose  to  save  any  except  those  who, 
hearing  the  gospel,  obey;  and  he  requires  that  his  people,  as 
custodians  of  the  gospel,  should  be  diligent  in  disseminating 
it  as  the  appointed  means  of  saving  souls.  Whatever  lies 
beyond  this  circle  of  sanctified  means  is  unrevealed,  unpro- 
mised,  uncovenanted.  (3)  The  heathen  in  mass,  with  no  single 
definite  and  unquestionable  exception  on  record,  are  evidently 
strangers  to  God,  and  are  going  down  to  death  in  an  unsaved 
condition.  The  presumed  possibility  of  being  saved  without  a 
knowledge  of  Christ  remains,  after  eighteen  hundred  years,  a 
possibility  illustrated  by  no  example."     (/6.,  p.  242.) 

How  Dr.  HodgSv obtained  this  information,  he  does  not 
tell  us.  It  presumes  a  familiarity  with  God's  judgments, 
which  perhaps  is  granted  only  to  the  elect. 

PRINCETON   REVIEW. 

Dr.  Hodge's  views  on  this  point  are  confirmed  by  an 

article  in  the  Princeton  Review^  the  authoritative  organ 

of  the  Seminary,  published  in  1860,  and  entitled  "The 
Heathen  Inexcusable  for  their  Idolatry."^ 

*'  They  who  have  never  known  of  a  Saviour  cannot  be  guilty 
of  the  sin  of  rejecting  him.  What  then  is  the  ground  of  their 
condemnation?  This  question  is  an  important  one;  for,  if  the 
heathen  are  not  under  condemnation,  what  is  the  use  of  sending 
them  the  gospel?  If  the  heathen,  or  the  greater  portion  of 
them,  are  to  get  to  heaven  through  their  ignorance,  where  is  the 
necessity  for  any  clearer  light,  which,  reasoning  from  all  past 
experience,  the  greater  majority  will  not  receive?  The  question, 
in  fact,  lies  still  further  back,  as  to  the  necessity  of  any  gospel 
at  all.  If  we,  or  any  single  individual  man,  could  have  been 
saved  without  the  atonement,  then  righteousness  would  have  been 
by  that  method,  and  Christ  would  not  have  died.     The  gospel, 

^  In  Poole's  Index  the  writer's  name  is  given  as  J.  K.  Wight. 


56  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

however,  looks  upon  all  as  in  a  state  of  condemnation,  and  that 
none  can  hope  for  justification  and  eternal  life  except  through 
the  righteousness  of  Christ  alone."  {Princeton  Review,  1860, 
vol.  xxxii.  p.  427.) 

"  The  heathen  are  under  condemnation,  and  to  them  a  dark 
and  hopeless  one:  they  know  of  no  escape.  While,  therefore, 
their  sin  is  far  less  than  of  those  who  know  the  remedy  and  re- 
ject it,  still  their  condition  is  one  which  should  excite  our  deepest 
pity  and  compassion.  The  wrath  of  God  is  abiding  on  them. 
From  the  second  death,  and  all  its  terrors,  they  know  of  no 
escape ;  but  to  us  the  only  remedy  for  them  and  us  has  been  made 
known.  It  is  not  our  object  to  dwell  upon  the  practical  conclu- 
sion which  the  apostle  draws  from  the  fact  that  the  heathen  are 
under  condemnation ;  but  the  more  we  recognize  the  fact,  the 
more  important  must  we  feel  to  be  the  inference  from  it,  — 
namely,  that  the  only  hope  for  Jew  and  Gentile  is  in  justification 
thi'ough  faith  in  Christ,  that  his  is  the  only  name  given  under 
heaven  whereby  men  can  be  saved."     (lb.,  p.  M8.) 

The  damnation  of  the  heathen  has  not  only  been  held 
as  a  theological  tenet,  but  it  has  been  urged  as  the  great 
practical  motive  for  missionary  effort.  This  is  strikingly 
evident  in  the  article  of  Dr.  Enoch  Pond,  already  quoted. 
In  preparing  this  treatise  we  have  examined  all  the 
sermons  which  have  been  preached  before  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  during  the 
last  forty  years,  and  a  few  delivered  before  that  Board 
was  formed. 

We  have  been  impressed  in  these  sermons  with  the 
earnestness,  zeal,  piety,  faith,  hope,  and  love  which  they 
express,  and  the  ability  with  which  they  have  been  pre- 
pared. The  range  of  minor  motives,  minor  when  viewed 
from  the  Orthodox  standpoint,  is  considerable.  The  good 
effect  of  missionary  work  on  the  churches  themselves, 
the  improvement  of  the  temporal  condition  of  the  hea- 
then, the  encouragements  derived  from  work  already  done, 
are  from  time  to  time  presented.  There  are  sermons  which 
are  marked  by  a  pessimistic  tone,  in  which  the  miseries  of 


MAJORITY    OF    MANKIND.  57 

the  heathen  now  and  hereafter  are  pictured;  and  there 
are  sermons  thoroughly  optimistic  in  their  belief  in  the 
final  triumph  of  Christianity.  Indeed,  it  has  ever  been  a 
powerful  motive  in  missionary  appeal  to  paint  the  millen- 
nial glories  of  an  entire  world  converted  to  Jesus  Christ. 
Sometimes,  love  to  Christ  is  presented  as  a  constraining 
motive ;  sometimes,  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  obey  his 
command  to  preach  his  gospel  to  all  nations.  Less  fre- 
quently than  either  of  these,  though  often  urged  with 
tenderness  and  power,  are  the  obligations  that  spring  from 
human  brotherhood.  Some  writers  find  their  inspiration 
in  the  great  number  of  the  heathen  that  will  be  saved  if 
the  gospel  is  sent ;  others  in  the  vast  number  that  will  be 
lost  if  it  is  not  sent. 

But — whatever  be  the  minor  motives  which  give  variety, 
ingenuity,  and  force  to  these  yearly  appeals  —  the  under- 
lying premise  on  which  they  are  all  built  is  the  assumption 
that  the  heathen  form  part  of  a  lost  and  ruined  world,  and 
that  nothing  but  a  personal  acceptance  of  the  gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ  can  save  them  from  eternal  misery.  This  is 
the  key-note  of  the  earliest  and  latest  of  these  discourses. 
It  is  the  corner-stone  of  the  missionary  power.  A  few 
extracts  from  some  of  these  sermons,  and  other  missionary 
literature,  will  show  the  tenacity  with  which  this  doctrine 
is  held,  and  how  vital  it  has  been  deemed  to  the  whole 
system. 

REV.   GORDON    HALL. 

Rev.  Gordon  Hall,  a  missionary,  in  a  sermon  preached 
in  1812,  in  Philadelphia,  said  :  — 

"  While  the  whole  number  of  souls  now  upon  the  globe 
amounts  to  no  less  than  eight  hundred  millions,  there  are  by 
computation  five  hundred  millions  who  have  never  heard  of 
the  name  of  Jesus,  who  know  not  that  a  Savior  has  bled  for 
sinners,  and  are  rushing  through  pagan  darkness  by  millions  down 
to  hopeless  death.^^     (p.  4.) 


58  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

*'The  poor  pagans  have  not  a  ray  of  gospel  light  to  guide 
them  to  the  world  of  glory.  They  are  by  millions  perishing  for 
lack  of  those  precious  privileges  which  so  many  in  this  country 
are  abusing  to  their  own  damnation."     (p.  15.) 

REV.    MYRON   WINSLOW. 

At  a  meeting  held  at  the  Old  South  Church,  Boston, 
June  7,  1819,  on  the  evening  previous  to  the  sailing  of 
several  missionaries  to  Ceylon,  Rev.  Myron  Winslow 
said :  — 

"  It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  general  representation  of  the 
Bible  concerning  the  heathen  world  is  that  they  are  going  down 
to  perdition.  If,  still,  the  thought  of  such  vast  multitudes  sink- 
ing into  hell,  without  any  knowledge  of  the  only  name  given 
under  heaven  by  which  they  can  be  saved,  seems  inconsistent 
with  the  goodness  of  God,  we  are  to  remember  that  they,  with 
all  our  fallen  race,  deserve  eternal  misery;  that  the  provisions  of 
the  gospel  are  wholly  gratuitous,  God  being  under  no  obligation 
to  communicate  them  to  any;  and,  if  not  to  any,  certainly  not 
to  all ;  that  he  has  a  right  to  choose  whom  he  will  to  salvation ; 
and,  if  he  leaves  whole  nations  to  perish,  it  is  right.  ...  It  is 
true,  the  heathen  are  to  be  judged  according  to  the  light  they 
have:  they  cannot  be  condemned  for  rejecting  a  salvation  which 
was  never  offered  them;  but  they  may  be  condemned,  they  will 
be  condemned,  for  putting  out  the  light  of  nature."     (p.  12.) 

REV.    WILLIAM    HERVEY. 

Rev.  William  Hervey,  missionary  to  India,  1829,  said  :  — 
"Brethren,  have  the  terms  of  admission  to  heaven  been 
altered  since  they  were  laid  down  by  the  Saviour  ?  Have  the 
requisitions  of  the  gospel  been  softened  since  the  days  of  the 
apostles  ?  I  know  that  many  professors  feel  and  act  as  though 
this  was  the  case.  But  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away  before 
one  human  sinner  shall  be  admitted  to  glory  on  altered  terms . ' ' 

MISS    MARY    LYON. 

Miss  Mary  Lyon,  the  founder  of  South  Hadley  Seminary, 
pleaded  warmly,  in  her  "Missionary  Offering"  (1843),  for 
the  lost  heathen  :  — 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  69 

*'  The  price  of  their  redemption  has  been  paid.  The  Holy- 
Spirit  has  been  given.  But  one  thing  more  of  all  the  counsels 
of  heaven  is  wanting  to  secure  their  salvation,  to  make  sure  of 
their  eternal  safety.  This  one  thing  is  the  voluntary  instrumen- 
tality of  man.  For  the  want  of  this,  millions  and  millions  during 
the  last  eighteen  centuries  have  gone  down  to  everlasting 
death."     (p.  30.) 

EEV.    THOMAS    H.    SKINNER,    D.  D. 

Rev.  Thomas  H.  Skinner,  D.D.,  of  New  York,  preached 
the  sermon  in  1843,  and  lays  down  what  he  considers 
some  essential  facts  on  this  point :  — 

"  In  the  Christian  scheme,  the  following  facts  are  essential  : 
that  mankind  are  in  a  state  of  sin,  and  dying  in  this  state  are 
utterly  lost ;  that  their  recovery  can  be  effected  onli/  by  their  being 
Christianized  or  brought  under  the  power  of  the  gospel ;  that  the 
gospel  can  do  nothing  where  it  has  not  been  propagated  or  is 
unknown."     (p.  7.) 

In  another  passage  of  the  same  sermon.  Dr.  Skinner 
shows  how  negligent  the  Church  has  been  in  evangelizing 
the  world,  and  to  give  effect  to  his  reproach  adds  an  in- 
teresting calculation  :  — 

"  Never,  since  the  primitive  era,  has  she  [the  Church]  given 
indication  that  she  felt  herself  under  the  sanction  of  any  author- 
ity to  evangelize  the  nations  of  the  earth,  while  by  twenty  millions 
a  year,  during  eighteen  centuries,  they  have  been  passing  to  their 
eternal  destiny,  strangers  to  the  influence  of  God's  recovering 
grace."     (p.  11.) 

REV.   MARK   HOPKINS,   D.  D. 

Rev.  Dr.  Hopkins,  in  his  sermon  in  1845,  considered 
humanitarian  and  civilizing  influences  alone  as  insufficient 
to  meet  the  need  of  the  heathen,  and  said :  — 

"  The  burden  which  rests  upon  us  is  not  simply  a  proclamation 
of  the  gospel  amonj;  the  heathen,  but  such  a  proclamation  of  it 
as  shall  save  the  soul.  If  we  fail  of  this,  we  fail  of  our  object 
altogether."     (p.  19.) 


60  THE  DOOM  OF  THE  • 

REV.  FRANCIS  BOWMAN. 

In  a  missionary  sermon  by  Rev.  Francis  Bowman 
(Presbyterian),  preached  in  1846,  we  read:  — 

"  There  is  not  in  all  truth  anything  so  important  to  be  known 
by  the  whole  world  as  the  fact  that  '  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners.'  Impart  all  other  truth,  yet,  if  this  be 
withheld,  the  teeming  millions  of  the  earth^s  population  will  perish.^* 
(p.  7.) 

REV.   RUFUS   ANDERSON,   D.D. 

Rev.  Dr.  Rufus  Anderson,  senior  secretary  of  the  Amer- 
ican Board,  said  in  1851:  — 

*'  Nothing  is  more  truly  binding  upon  us  than  the  obligation 
to  impart  the  gospel  to  those  whom  we  can  reach,  and  who  will 
perish  if  they  do  not  receive  it.  That,  surely,  is  the  most  destruc- 
tive immorality  which  withholds  from  immortal  man  the  only 
gospel  of  salvation.  The  most  pernicious  infidelity  is  surely 
that  which  cares  not  for  a  world  perishing  in  sin."     (p.  21.) 

REV.    GEORGE    W.    BETHUNE,   D.D. 

Rev.  Dr.  George  W.  Bethune,  of  the  Dutch  Reformed 
Church,  urged,  in  1856,  the  Calvinistic  theology  as  the 
very  basis  for  all  missionary  work  as  against  all  more 
liberal  methods.  Dr.  Bethune  argued  that  the  glory 
belonged  to  Christ :  — 

"Even  if  it  were  possible  (a  monstrous  supposition)  to  make 
men  repent  by  any  method  of  our  own  device,  we  should  not  dare 
to  use  it ;  for  then  we  should  take  the  praise  from  him,  and  break 
our  loyalty.  .  .  .  The  world  is  to  be  saved,  but  through  the  con- 
version of  individual  sinners.  We  may  preach  to  the  multitude, 
but  only  he  who  by  the  grace  of  God  believes  the  word  will  be 
blessed."     (p.  18.) 

^^  Myriads  of  our  felloiu-sinners ,  in  our  land  and  other  lands, 
are  still  in  these  horrible  depths :  the  gospel  alone  can  lift  them 
out."     (p.  38.) 

REV.   W.    W.    PATTON. 

In  an  article  entitled,  "  The  True  Theory  of  Missions  to 
the  Heathen,"  in  the  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  for  July,  1858, 


MAJORITY    OF    MANKIND.  61 

Eev.  W.  W.  Patton  testifies  to  the  prevalent  evangelical 
belief,  though  he  does  not  hold  it :  — 

"  We  come  now  to  a  second  theory  of  missions,  which  may 
be  called  the  extreme  evangelical  theory.  .  .  .  Can  a  heathen  be 
saved  who  has  lived  and  died  without  hearing  of  Jesus  Christ, 
or  of  the  one  living  and  true  God  ?  The  theory  which  we  are 
now  to  consider  answers  in  the  negative.  It  teaches  that  man 
can  in  no  way  be  pardoned  without  specific  faith  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  as  the  Saviour  of  sinners  ;  and  that  all  the  heathen 
who  have  not  been  visited  by  the  missionaries  of  the  cross,  have 
descended,  generation  after  generation,  in  unbroken  ranks,  to 
perdition,  their  case  having  been  through  life  as  hopeless  as  that 
of  men  seized  with  a  fatal  malady,  the  only  cure  for  which  is  on 
the  other  side  of  the  globe,  with  no  means  of  obtaining  it. 
To  what  extent  this  theory  is  actually  held,  in  all  its  rigidity,  we 
are  unable  to  say.  It  is  the  accepted  theory  of  the  Romish 
Church,  and  of  a  part  of  the  Protestant  Church,  perhaps  of  the 
majority  of  the  latter.  The  ordinary  language  of  missionary 
letters,  addresses,  sermons,  and  reports  implies  or  favors  this 
extreme  view."     {Bihliotheca  Sacra,  vol.  xv.  p.  552.) 

Mr.  Patton  might  have  gone  further,  and  said  that  this 
missionary  literature  not  only  implies  or  favors  this  ex- 
treme view,  but  that  it  continually  asserts  it  as  absolutely 
necessary  to  the  missionary  motive.  But  we  have  later 
and  additional  testimony  on  this  point. 

REV.    R.   W.    PATTERSON,   D.  D. 

Rev.  Dr.  Patterson,  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church, 
Chicago,  said,  in  1859  :  — 

''Remember!  All  these  thousands  and  millions  who  are 
living  and  dying  without  the  gospel  are  of  your  own  blood  ! 
Remember !  Their  souls  are  as  precious  as  yours  ;  Jesus  died 
for  them  as  well  as  for  you.  Remember!  They  are  going  on 
rapidly  to  the  same  great  Eternity  which  lies  before  you ;  and 
what  you  do  for  them  must  be  done  quickly.  I  tell  you,  my 
brethren,  we  are  strong  in  our  cause,  when  we  can  press  motives 
like  these  upon  the  hearts  of  all  the  multitudes  who  know  how 
to  feel  for  the  woes  of  perishing  souls."     (p.  16.) 


62  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

EEV.    W.    G.    T.    SHEDD,   D.  D. 

The  sermon  of  Dr.  Shedd  on  the  "  Guilt  of  the  Pagan," 
published  in  1864,  has  already  been  referred  to.  An  addi- 
tional quotation  is  in  place  here :  — 

"  Natural  religion  consigns  the  entire  pagan  world  to  eternal 
perdition.  ...  It  is  precisely  because  the  pagan  world  has  not 
obeyed  the  principles  of  natural  religion,  and  is  under  a  curse 
and  a  bondage  therefor,  that  it  is  in  perishing  need  of  the  truths 
of  revealed  religion.  Little  do  those  know  what  they  are  saying, 
when  they  propose  to  find  a  salvation  for  the  pagan  in  the  mere 
light  of  natural  reason  and  conscience."     (pp.  20,  21.) 

EEV.   E.    N.    KIEK,    D.D. 

Rev.  Dr.  Kirk  of  Boston  said,  in  1865 :  — 

"  The  increase  of  the  world's  population  marches  with  gigan- 
tic strides.  More  pagans  are  horn,  more  die  in  one  year,  than  we 
have  converted  in  over  fifty  years.''''     (p.  19.) 

This  shows  how  few  heathen  are  saved,  compared  with 
the  number  that  are  lost.  This  calculation  of  Dr.  Kirk 
may  be  compared  with  that  of  Dr.  Skinner. 

EEV.    GEOEGE    H.    POND. 

Rev.  George  H.  Pond,  a  Presbyterian  clergyman  and  a 
missionary  in  Minnesota,  in  an  article  in  the  Presbyterian 
Quarterly  Review.,  January,  1861,  said:  — 

"  The  millions  of  those  who  compose  the  churches  believe,  or 
profess  to  believe,  that  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  are  the  teach- 
ings of  God.  They  profess  to  believe  that  the  man  is  lost  in  sin, 
that  Jesus  toiled  and  died  to  save  him,  and  that  nothing  else  can  save 
himexcepttheprovisionsof  the  gospel.  [Italics  are  his.]  .  .  .  And 
yet,  notwithstanding  all  this  profession,  pagans  may  be  counted 
by  tens  and  by  hundreds  of  millions,  who  have  not  even  heard 
the  name  of  Jesus.  Hundreds  of  millions  have  not  a  solitary 
friend  to  point  them  to  the  Lamb  of  God,  to  the  blood  of  the 
atonement." 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  63 

PRESIDENT   JAMES    H.   EAIRCHILD. 

President  Fairchild  of  Oberlin  College,  in  1877,  was 
very  clear  on  this  point :  — 

"  The  great  masses  of  mankind  have  no  such  knowledge  of 
God  as  affords  them  any  help  or  hope  for  this  life  or  that  which 
is  to  come.  .  .  .  Enough  of  light  is  mingled  with  the  darkness 
to  give  the  sense  of  duty  and  the  consciousness  of  sin,  —  not 
enough  to  awaken  hope  or  move  them  to  effort  for  a  better  life. 
They  belong  to  the  kingdom  of  darkness,  and  the  powers  of 
darkness  hold  them  in  bondage.  .  .  .  There  are  none  who,  by 
special  strength  or  courage,  lift  themselves  above  this  degrada- 
tion, and  walk  in  ways  of  righteousness  and  in  the  light  of  God. 
Thus  in  darkness  and  sin  great  masses  of  our  fellow-men  live 
and  die,  and  thus  they  have  lived  and  died  throughout  the  history 
of  the  race.  .  .  .  Our  brother  of  India,  of  China,  of  Africa,  is 
perishing  within  our  reach  and  before  our  eyes.  Can  we  go  our 
various  ways,  one  to  his  farm,  and  another  to  his  merchandise, 
and  not  incur  the  final  condemnation,  '  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it 
not  to  one  of  the  least  of  these,  ye  did  it  not  to  me '  ?  "  (pp.  9, 
17.) 

REV.    E.  P.    GOODWIN,   D.  D. 

In  no  sermon  delivered  before  the  American  Board  has 
this  doctrine  of  the  perishing  condition  of  the  heathen 
received  more  distinct  utterance  than  in  the  sermon  be- 
fore that  body,  delivered  by  Rev.  Dr.  E.  P.  Goodwin 
of  Chicago,  at  Portland,  Oct.  3,  1882.  This  sermon  has 
special  significance  because  delivered  at  a  time  when  the 
question  of  a  second  probation  for  the  heathen  was  actively 
discussed  in  the  Orthodox  Congregational  body.  Dr. 
Goodwin  holds  that  all  lax  doctrine  is  hostile  to  the  mis- 
sionary spirit,  and  plants  himself  firmly  on  the  old  theo- 
logical foundation :  — 

"  This  missionary  gospel,  this  gospel  to  be  preached  among 
all  the  nations,  was  to  be  emphatically  a  gospel  of  separation,  a 
gospel  of  election,  a  gospel  everywhere  calling  out  and  setting 
apart  a  peculiar  people.  ...  In  other  words,  the  supreme  end 
which  in  this  age  the  Holy  Spirit  proposes  to  accomplish  by  this 


64  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

witnessing  of  the  gospel  to  all  nations,  is  to  call  out  thence  a 
people  chosen  in  Christ  Jesus  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world."     (p.  7.) 

Dr.  Goodwin  then  shows  how  few  in  number  the  elect 
are :  — 

"  We  stand  under  the  pierced  hands  and  the  bleeding  side. 
We  know  this  cross  over  our  heads  means  blood  shed,  death 
suffered,  for  the  sin  of  the  world.  We  compass  the  nations  and 
the  ages  in  our  thought,  and  with  him  that  hangs  here  our  hearts 
reach  out  far  and  wide  with  ardent  desire,  with  inexpressible 
and  tearful  longings,  that  all  men  may  know  this  Christ,  may 
accept  this  gospel,  may  possess  eternal  life. 

"  But  GorVs  desires  are  not  OocVs  decrees.  This  Christ  pitying 
all,  eager  to  save  all,  is  the  Christ  rejected,  hated,  crucified,  by 
those  he  seeks  to  save.  The  amazing  invitation,  '  Come  unto 
me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy-laden,  and  I  will  give  you 
rest,'  is  uttered  in  all  ears  ;  but  only  here  and  there  a  Nicode- 
mus,  a  woman  at  the  well,  a  thief  on  the  cross,  makes  response. 
Across  the  continents,  for  eighteen  centuries,  have  sounded  the 
wonderful  words,  '  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish, 
but  have  everlasting  life  ; '  but,  among  the  swarming  millions, 
how  insignificant  the  numbers  that  care  to  listen y  and  how  few  of 
these  that  are  eager  to  possess  the  gift  !  "     (p.  8.) 

Dr.  Goodwin  is  amazed  that  so  few  should  accept  the 
gospel :  — 

*'  Are  any  now  oppressed  with  the  thought  that  this  concep- 
tion of  the  missionary  work  makes  it  seem  a  kind  of  hopeless 
undertaking  ?  Do  they  stand  facing  these  unsaved  millions, 
and,  with  a  feeling  almost  of  dismay,  ask  why,  after  eighteen 
centuries  of  the  preaching  of  the  cross,  so  few  comparatively  have 
been  reached  and  saved  ?  I  do  not  wonder.  There  are  mysteries 
here  that  no  human  wisdom  can  solve."     (p.  10.) 

MISSIONARY   REPORTS. 

The  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions  says :  — 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  65 

*'  To  send  the  gospel  to  the  heathen  is  a  work  of  great  exi- 
gency. Within  the  last  thirty  years,  a  whole  generation  of  five 
hundred  millions  have  gone  down  to  eternal  death." 

Again  the  same  Board,  in  its  tract  entitled  "The 
Grand  Motive  to  Missionary  Effort,"  written  by  one  of 
the  secretaries  of  the  Board  and  published  in  1853, 
says :  — 

"Another  and  a  very  powerful  motive  in  this  enterprise  is 
found  in  the  awful  doom  which  awaita  those  who  live  and  die  within 
the  precincts  of  pagan  idolatry.  [Italics  theirs.]  This  great  fact, 
clearly  recognized  in  the  Scriptures,  is  fitted  to  rouse  the  deepest 
sympathies  of  the  soul.  ISTo  believer  in  Christianity  can  imagine 
that  Christ  would  have  directed  his  followers  to  send  the  gospel 
to  '  every  creature,'  at  such  a  vast  expense  of  toil  and  treasure 
and  suffering  and  blood,  to  be  continued  down  through  the  lapse 
of  ages,  if  he  had  known  or  supposed  that  the  heathen  could  and 
would  be  saved  just  as  well  without  the  gospel  as  with  it.  No 
theory  which  admits  idolaters  of  any  description  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  can  be  reconciled  with  the  facts  and  teachings  of 
the  Bible.  The  heathen  are  involved  in  the  ruins  of  the  apostasy, 
are  subjects  of  a  deep  and  awful  depravity,  totally  unfit  for 
heaven,  and  are  expressly  doomed  to  perdition.  No  body  of 
men  denying  this  doctrine  ever  undertook  to  evangelize  the  dark 
places  of  the  earth ;  and  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  they 
ever  will.  Here,  then,  we  have  before  us  a  great  truth,  a  Bible 
truth,  fitted  to  fix  the  eye  and  pierce  the  heart. 

'  The  heathen  perish ;  day  by  day. 
Thousands  on  thousands  pass  away.' 

*'  If  the  Christians  of  this  land  could  stand  together  on  some 
eminence  near  the  gates  of  Eternity,  and  see  the  sweeping  tor- 
rent of  deathless  souls,  from  the  realms  of  paganism,  daily  and 
hourly  passing  through,  and  plunging  into  the  fathomless  depths 
below,  what  eye  would  not  run  down  with  tears  ?  what  bosom 
would  not  heave  with  emotion  ?  what  heart  would  not  be  trans- 
fixed with  agonies  ?  what  tongue  would  not  pray  and  cry  aloud 
to  God,  that  this  river  of  death  might  be  stopped?  ...  A 
deathless  soul,  on  the  brink  of  hell,  with  capacities  for  heaven, 
and  full  provision  made  for  its  salvation  !     What  a  spectacle ! 

5 


66  THE   DOOM   OF    THE 

Multiply  this  one  by  six  hundred  millions  and  then  contemplate 
the  scene."     (pp.  7,  8.) 

Bishop  Colenso,  in  his  "  Ten  Weeks  in  Natal,"  gives 
the  following  extract  from  an  American  missionary 
report :  — 

"  Every  hour,  yea,  every  moment  they  are  dying,  and  dying, 
most  of  them,  -without  any  knowledge  of  the  Saviour.  On 
whom  now  rests  the  responsibility  ?  If  you  fail  to  do  all  in 
your  power  to  save  them,  will  you  stand  at  the  judgment  guilt- 
less of  their  blood?  Said  a  heathen  child,  after  having  embraced 
the  Gospel,  to  the  writer,  '  How  long  have  they  had  the  Gospel 
in  New  England  ? '  When  told,  she  asked,  with  great  earnest- 
ness, '  Why  did  they  not  come  and  tell  us  this  before  ? '  and 
then  added,  '  My  mother  died,  and  my  father  died,  and  my 
brother  died,  without  the  Gospel.'  Here  she  was  unable  to  re- 
strain her  emotions.  But,  at  length,  wiping  away  her  tears,  she 
asked,  '  Where  do  you  think  they  have  gone  ? '  I,  too,  could 
not  refrain  from  weeping,  and,  turning  to  her,  I  inquired, 
*  Where  do  you  think  they  have  gone  ? '  She  hesitated  a  few 
moments,  and  then  replied,  with  much  emotion,  '  I  suppose  they 
have  gone  down  to  the  dark  place  —  the  dark  place.  Oh !  why 
did  they  not  tell  us  before  ?  '  It  wrung  my  heart  as  she  repeated 
the  question,  '  Why  did  they  not  tell  us  before?  '  " 

What  shall  we  say  of  the  gladness  of  a  gospel  which 
carries  such  tidings  to  ignorant  heathen  ?  Remarking  on 
this  passage  the  North  British  Review  says :  — 

"  Can  this  be  mere  ad  cnptandum  language,  intended  to  draw 
contributions  to  the  missionary  societies  ?  If  so,  it  is  very 
wicked.  But  if  it  be  really  genuine  and  sincere,  how  melan- 
choly a  fanaticism  does  it  display!  We  shudder  at  the  accounts 
of  Devil-worship  which  come  to  us  from  so  many  mission-fields. 
We  pity  the  dreary  delusion  of  the  Manichees,  who  enthroned 
the  Evil  Principle  in  heaven.  But  if  we  proclaim  that  God  is 
indeed  one  who  could  decree  this  more  than  Moloch  sacrifice  of 
the  vast  majority  of  his  oion  creatures  and  children,  for  no  fault  or 
sin  of  theirs,  w^e  revive  the  error  of  the  Manichees ;  for  the  God 
whom  we  preach  as  the  destroyer  of  the  guiltless  can  be  no 
God  of  justice,  far  less  a  God  of  love."  (Vol.  xxv.  Aug.  1856, 
p.  317.) 


MAJORITY    OF    MANKIND.  67 

IV. 

Admissions  and  Ceiticisms. 

In  the  foregoing  pages  we  have  presented  an  array  of 
unimpeachable  evidence  concerning  the  authoritative,  tra- 
ditional, and  current  Evangelical  belief  in  regard  to  this 
"  dark  and  awful  doctrine."  We  have  examined  the  most 
prevalent  Orthodox  interpretations  of  Scripture ;  we  have 
appealed  to  the  standards  of  Orthodoxy,  and  to  the  men 
who  made  them,  —  to  its  theological  seminaries,  its  mis- 
sionary bodies,  its  authoritative  literature,  the  teachings 
of  its  pulpits.  And  now  we  ask,  What  becomes  of  the 
statement  that  "  no  Orthodox  denomination,  no  Evangel- 
ical creed  in  Christendom,  teaches  that  the  vast  majority 
of  the  human  race  are  to  be  the  victims  of  endless  woe"? 

In  the  light  —  or,  more  fitly,  in  the  gloom  —  of  this 
mass  of  testimony,  we  appeal  to  the  candor  of  our  readers 
whether  it  is  an  "  absolute  and  abominable  misrepresenta- 
tion "  of  Orthodoxy  to  say  that  it  has  taught  and  still 
teaches  the  hideous  doctrine  of  the  eternal  damnation  of 
the  majority  of  the  race  ?  If  anybody  has  misrepresented 
Orthodoxy  in  this  respect,  it  is  not  we  who  report  its  utter- 
ances, but  John  Calvin,  Richard  Baxter,  Matthew  Henry, 
a  host  of  Evangelical  commentators,  the  Synod  of  Dort, 
the  makers  of  the  Westminster,  the  Savoy,  and  the  Boston 
confessions,  the  American  Tract  Society,  the  American 
and  Presbyterian  Boards  of  Foreign  Missions,  and  the 
great  leaders  of  Orthodox  theological  schools.  We  admit 
that  the  word  misrepresentation  may  be  applied  to  the 
awful  doctrine  which  has  been  described,  but  it  is  as  a 
misrepresentation  of  Christianity,  not  of  Orthodoxy. 

We  do  not  claim  that  this  unnatural  doctrine  has  never 
met  with  protest.  On  the  contrary,  through  all  the  years 
in  which  it  has  been  taught,  —  under  the  shelter  of  Biblical, 
Papal,  and  Synodical  authority,  —  there  have  been  men 


68  •  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

who  have  lifted  up  their  voices  against  it,  from  the  time 
of  Origen  down  to  Murray,  Chapin,  Bellows,  and  Farrar. 
But  they  have  always  been  in  the  minority,  and  have 
either  been  cast  out  of  organized  Orthodoxy,  or  regarded 
with  suspicion.  When  Curio,  in  1532,  maintained  that  "  the 
number  of  the  saved,  in  which  he  includes  virtuous  hea- 
then, will  far  exceed  that  of  the  lost,  this  doctrine  was 
deemed  so  dangerous  that  the  Senate  of  Basel  refused  to 
allow  him  to  publish  the  work,  and  the  first  edition  was 
printed  surreptitiously."  ^  We  honor  the  brave  souls 
in  every  age  who  have  protested  against  the  moral  and 
practical  implications  of  this  belief,  and  wish  there  was 
no  longer  any  occasion  to  continue  their  remonstrance; 
but  in  spite  of  the  increasing  minority  of  those  who  have 
repudiated  it  within  Orthodox  circles,  we  are  forced,  after 
a  wide  examination  of  current  testimony,  to  the  conclu- 
sion of  Canon  Farrar,  that  "  it  is  needless  to  prove  that 
this  has  continued  to  be  the  popular  opinion."  ^ 

1»    Evangelical  Admissions. 

That  an  Orthodox  minister  in  Boston  should  indig- 
nantly deny  that  "  any  Evangelical  creed  in  Christendom  " 
teaches  the  doom  of  the  majority,  may  be  construed  as  a 
virtual  admission  that  the  doctrine  is  not  one  which  Ortho- 
doxy would  gladly  own.    There  is  another  line  of  defence 

1  For  references  concerning  those  who  have  taken  ground  in  behalf 
of  the  salvability  of  the  unconverted  lieathen,  and  in  fact  for  the  gen- 
eral and  special  literature  of  every  aspect  of  the  doctrine  of  the  future 
life,  see  the  Bibliography  by  Professor  Ezra  Abbot,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of 
Harvard  University,  appended  to  Rev.  W.  R.  Alger's  '*  Critical  His- 
tory of  the  Doctrine  of  a  Future  Life."  No  one  can  treat  any  phase 
of  this  subject  historically  without  consulting  this  invaluable  Bibli- 
ography. In  addition  to  the  constant  aid  we  have  obtained  from  it, 
we  must  also  acknowledge  the  kind  assistance  of  its  author  in  revising 
proofs  of  these  pages. 

2  Mercy  and  Judgment,  p.  154. 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  69 

open  to  persons  of  this  view,  and  that  is,  to  show  that 
modern  Orthodoxy  has  renounced  the  tenets  of  Calvin, 
the  Westminster  Assembly,  the  Synod  of  Dort,  the  Savoy 
Declaration,  the  Boston  Confession,  the  Plymouth  Declar- 
ation, and  the  teachings  of  Emmons,  Pond,  Park,  Hodge, 
and  the  numerous  authorities  we  have  quoted.  Liberal 
Orthodoxy  has  taken  a  step  in  this  direction,  but  the  great 
majority  of  the  Orthodox,  Congregational,  Presbyterian, 
Baptist,  and  Reformed  denominations  are  not  yet  ready 
to  confess  that  the  Creeds  and  Fathers  were  mistaken  in 
this  matter.  On  the  contrary,  the  doctrine  is  still  freely 
and  boldly  confessed.  It  is  even  considered  dangerous  to 
Orthodoxy  to  relax  in  any  degree  its  rigorous  belief  in 
respect  to  the  destiny  of  the  great  body  of  the  heathen 
world. 

VARIOUS    LETTERS. 

Since  the  appearance  of  our  article  on  this  subject  in 
the  Christian  Register  of  Jan.  4,  1883,  we  have  received 
various  communications  from  Orthodox  believers  who 
have  expressed  their  surprise  that  the  prevalence  of  the 
doctrine  should  be  at  all  questioned. 

A  lady,  whose  goodness  is  as  sound  as  her  Orthodoxy, 
writes  concerning  the  doom  of  the  majority :  — 

"  All  I  will  try  to  say  is  this:  the  doctrine  is  truly  an  awful 
one ;  but  we  find  it  in  the  Bible,  and  those  of  us  who  believe  in 
that  book  cannot  ignore  it.  So  we  seek  to  leave  the  matter  with 
Him  who  is  not  only  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth,  but  a  God  of 
infinite  mercy  and  love.    Surely,  He  will  do  that  which  is  right. ' ' 

An  Orthodox  minister  writes  :  — 

"It  is  wasting  powder  to  prove  that  Orthodox  Christians 
believe  that  '  broad  is  the  way  that  leads  to  death,  and  many 
there  be  that  walk  therein;'  while  strait,  narrow,  few,  &c.,  are 
the  words  of  Jesus.  Your  quotations  are  perfectly  fair,  as 
proving  this  to  be  our  historic  and  present  belief.  It  is  un- 
doubtedly the  opinion  of  most  Orthodox  Christians  that  the 
great  majority  of  the  human  race,  who  have  as  yet  died  in  mature 
years,  are  lost,"  ^ 


70  THE    DOOM   OF    THE 

Various  friends,  who  like  the  writer  were  reared  within 
the  Evangelical  fold,  have  confessed  that  they  never 
thought  of  entertaining  any  other  belief  on  this  subject. 

THE    EXAMINEE. 

The  Examiner,  of  New  York,  is  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent organs  of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  this  country. 
In  a  comparatively  recent  issue,  it  freely  concedes  the 
point  we  have  pressed,  in  regard  to  the  damnation  of  the 
vast  majority  of  the  adult  portion  of  the  race.  It 
says :  — 

"  The  idea  of  a  probation  in  this  life  does  imply  the  possibility 
of  salvation,  but  the  possibility  may  never  be  realized.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  we  believe  that,  for  the  vast  majority  of  the  heathen, 
this  possibility  never  is  realized,  and  we  never  yet  heard  of  an  Ortho- 
dox theologian  who  held  any  other  belief  than  this.^^  ^ 

This  is  a  sad  confession  to  make,  but  it  has  the  virtue 
of  candor. 

THE    PRESBYTERIAN. 

The  doctrine  is  again  frankly  acknowledged  in  an  edi- 
torial article  in  the  Presbyterian,  March  10,  1883.  It  is 
considered  to  be  absolutely  essential  to  the  missionary 
motive :  — 

"  Foreign  Missions  were  conceived  in  the  idea  that  the  heathen 
world  was  perishing,  and  that  the  duty  of  the  Church  was,  by 
every  sacrifice  possible,  to  save  them.  Any  such  scheme  would 
have  been  still-born  without  this  vital  centre,  this  heart  of  all 
endeavor.  The  Church  in  New  England  grew  strong  in  this 
conviction,  — unselfish,  aggressive,  and  glorious.  The  pulsations 
of  the  New  England —  we  might  say  Boston  — heart  went  to  the 
extremities  of  this  whole  country. 

''  And  now,  after  building  a  kingdom  of  power  and  gloiy  at 
home,  and  laying  the  foundations  of  revolution  from  heathenism 
to  new  life  in  every  nation  under  heaven,  on  which  the  super- 
structure of  life  eternal  may  go  up  in  divine  proportions,  it  is 

1  Examiner,  New  York,  Feb.  15,  1883. 


MAJORITY    OF    MANKIND.  71 

suddenly  discovered  in  Boston  that  the  heart  has  dropped  out ; 
and  it  must,  of  course,  be  given  up. 

"  Foreign  Mission  zeal  and  endeavor,  together,  form  the  test 
of  a  standing  or  falling  Church.  Where  there  is  no  zeal  and  no 
conscientious  sacrifice  for  Foreign  Missions,  there  will  be  none 
for  Home  Evangelization.  Hence,  when  this  conception  of 
urgency  and  sacrifice  to  achieve  its  end,  because  the  world  with- 
out salvation  by  Christ  is  dead,  is  abandoned,  the  death  of 
Evangelism  will  have  no  geographical  bounds.  It  will  be  death 
at  home  and  abroad.  It  is  a  short  cut  to  atheism,  when  death 
will  reign  supreme ;  for  Home  and  Foreign  Missions,  resting  on 
the  fact  given  in  Revelation,  that  the  world  without  salvation  is 
lost,  are  as  supplemental  to  each  other  as  the  lobes  of  the  brain, 
and  in  their  workings  as  active  and  reactive." 

It  would  be  strange  indeed,  if,  in  the  mass  of  testimony 
we  have  adduced  in  illustration  of  this  doctrine,  there 
should  not  be  confessions  of  its  dismal  and  terrible  nature. 
The  reason  and  the  emotions  must  at  times  revolt  against 
the  hideous  consequences  of  a  dogma  so  painful  to  the 
affections  and  so  contrary  to  our  highest  conceptions  of 
divine  goodness.  With  such  an  admission  this  paper  began. 
Dr.  Shedd  confesses  it  to  be  a  "dark  and  awful  doctrine." 
John  Calvin  cnlled  it  "a  dreadful  decree;"  Chrysostom, 
"  a  terrible  trutli ; "  Doddridge,  "  a  dreadful  truth ;  "  Dean 
Goulbura  describes  it  as  "  awfully  startling  ; "  Rev.  Enoch 
Pond  termed  it  "  an  affecting  truth,  ...  a  dreadful  conclu- 
sion, .  .  .  sufficient  to  rouse  up  every  Christian's  heart." 
The  same  confession  is  frankly  and  even  tearfully  made  in 
a  host  of  missionary  discourses.  Sometimes  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  painful  nature  of  this  doctrine  is  so  poignant 
that  we  scarcely  know  whom  to  pity  more,  the  "vast  ma- 
jority" condemned  to  this  woe,  or  the  minority,  unfortu- 
nate enough  to  believe  in  their  damnation. 

A   EEMARKABLE    CONCESSION. 

The  mysterious  and  appalling  features  of  this  dogma 
have  seldom  been  stated  with  more  power  than  by  one 


72  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

of  the  most  widely  known  and  most  popular  of  Presby- 
terian preachers  and  commentators,  Rev.  Albert  Barnes.^ 
Struggling  with  the  doubts  and  difficulties  which  his 
attempt  to  believe  in  this  doctrine  inevitably  suggested, 
he  makes  the  following  remarkable  confession  :  — 

"  That  the  immortal  mind  should  be  allowed  to  jeopard  its 
infinite  welfare,  and  that  trifles  should  be  allowed  to  draw  it 
away  from  God  and  virtue  and  Heaven ;  that  any  should  suffer 
forever,  —  lingering  on  in  hopeless  despair  and  rolling  amidst 
infinite  torments,  without  the  possibility  of  alleviation  and  with- 
out end;  that  since  God  can  save  men,  and  will  save  a  part,  he 
has  not  purposed  to  save  all;  that,  on  the  supposition  that  the 
atonement  is  ample,  and  that  the  blood  of  Christ  can  cleanse 
from  all  and  every  sin,  it  is  not  in  fact  applied  to  all;  that,  in  a 
word,  a  God  who  claims  to  be  worthy  of  the  confidence  of  the 
universe,  and  to  be  a  being  of  infinite  benevolence,  should  make 
such  a  world  as  this,  full  of  sinners  and  sufferers;  and  that 
when  an  atonement  had  been  made,  He  did  not  save  all  the  race, 
and  put  an  end  to  sin  and  woe  forever, — these,  and  kindred 
difl&culties,  meet  the  mind  when  we  think  on  this  great  subject; 
and  they  meet  us  when  we  endeavor  to  urge  our  fellow-sinners 
to  be  reconciled  to  God,  and  to  put  confidence  in  Him.  On  this 
ground  they  hesitate.  These  are  real,  not  imaginary  difficulties. 
They  are  probably  felt  by  every  mind  that  has  ever  reflected  on 
the  subject ;  and  they  are  unexplained,  unmitigated,  unremoved. 
I  confess,  for  one,  that  I  feel  them,  and  feel  them  more  sensibly 
and  powerfully  the  more  I  look  at  them,  and  the  longer  I  live. 
I  do  not  understand  these  facts  ;  and  I  make  no  advances  towards 
understanding  them.  I  do  not  know  that  I  have  a  ray  of  light 
on  this  subject,  which  I  had  not  when  the  subject  first  flashed 
across  my  soul. 

"  I  have  read,  to  some  extent,  what  wise  and  good  men  have 
written;  I  have  looked  at  their  theories  and  explanations,  I  have 
endeavored  to  weigh  their  arguments ;  for  my  whole  soul  pants 
for  light  and  relief  on  these  questions.  But  I  get  neither;  and 
in  the  distress  and  anguish  of  my  own  spirit,  I  confess  that  I 
see  no  light  whatever.     I  see  not  one  ray  to  disclose  to  me  the 

1  "Practical  Sermons,"  pp.  123-125,  quoted  in  C.  F.  Hudson's 
"  Debt  and  Grace,"  pp.  54,  55. 


MAJORITY    OF    MANKIND.  73 

reason  why  sin  came  into  the  world,  why  the  earth  is  strewed 
with  the  dying  and  the  dead,  and  why  man  must  suffer  to  all 
eternity. 

''  1  have  never  yet  seen  a  particle  of  light  thrown  on  these 
subjects,  that  has  giv^en  a  moment's  ease  to  my  tortured  mhid; 
nor  have  1  an  explanation  to  oifer,  or  a  thought  to  suggest,  that 
would  be  of  relief  to  you.  I  trust  other  men  —  as  they  profess 
to  do  —  miderstand  this  better  than  I  do,  and  that  tliey  have 
not  the  anguish  of  spirit  which  I  have;  but  I  confess,  when  1 
look  on  a  world  of  sinnei's  and  sufferers,  upon  death-beds  and 
grave-yards,  upon  the  world  of  woe,  filled  with  hosts  to  suifer 
forever;  when  I  see  my  friends,  my  parents,  my  family,  my 
people,  my  fellow-citizens,  —  when  I  look  upon  a  whole  race,  all 
involved  in  this  sin  and  danger;  and  when  I  see  the  great  mass 
of  them  wholly  unconcerned,  and  when  I  feel  that  God  only  can 
save  them,  and  yet  he  does  not  do  it,  —  I  am  struck  dumb.  It 
is  all  dark^  dark,  dark  to  my  soul,  and  I  cannot  disguise  it." 

There  is  something  mournfully  pathetic  in  such  a  con- 
fession as  this.  It  reminds  us  that  the  tenets  of  Calvinism, 
even  with  the  discriminations  which  they  make  in  favor  of 
those  who  accept  them,  are  not  held  by  tender  and  humane 
believers  without  pain  and  struggle  of  soul.  Again  we 
ask,  can  this  be  the  natural  and  proper  effect  of  the  glad 
gospel  of  "  peace  on  earth,  good- will  to  men"?  There 
are  many  sources  of  doubt  and  mystery  in  the  world  about 
us.  It  is  the  office  of  religion,  truly  interpreted,  to  help 
us  to  meet  them  with  manly  hope  and  faith,  and  not  to 
create,  from  traditional  and  legendary  assumptions,  artifi- 
cial mysteries  which  are  more  distressing  than  those  which 
are  real.  Dr.  Barnes  here  assumes,  in  accordance  with 
the  standards  of  his  church,  that  "the  whole  race"  is 
"involved  in  this  sin  and  danger,  and  that  "the  great 
mass  of  them''''  will  not  be  saved  from  eternal  ruin, 
although  God  might  do  it  if  he  wished.  Is  it  any  won- 
der that  he  says  "it  is  all  dark,  dark,  dark,"  and  confesses 
that  he  has  never  "  seen  a  particle  of  light  thrown  on  these 
subjects,  that  has  given  a  moment's  ease  to  {his]  tortured 
mind"? 


74  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

A    STUBBORN    AND    AWFUL    FACT. 

In  the  first  volume  of  his  scholarly  work  on  "The 
Creeds  of  Christendom,"  Dr.  Pliilip  SchafF,  in  criticising 
the  Westminster  system  of  doctrine,  candidly  admits  ''  the 
stubborn  and  awful  facts"  which  confront  it,  and  the 
difficulties  that  inhere  not  only  in  Calvinism,  but  in  all 
other  Orthodox  systems  :  — 

"  It  must  in  fairness  be  admitted  that  the  Calvinistic  system 
only  traces  undeniable  facts  to  their  first  ante-mundane  cause 
in  the  inscrutable  counsel  of  God.  It  draws  the  legitimate  logi- 
cal conclusions  from  such  anthropological  and  eschatological 
premises  as  are  acknowledged  by  all  other  Orthodox  churches, 
Greek,  Roman,  Lutheran,  and  Reformed.  They  all  teach  the 
condemnation  of  the  human  race  in  consequence  of  Adam's 
fall,  and  confine  the  opportunity  and  possibility  of  salvation 
from  sin  and  perdition  to  this  present  life.  And  yet  everybody 
must  admit  that  the  vast  majority  of  mankind,  no  worse  by  nature 
than  the  rest,  aud  without  personal  guilt,  are  born  and  grow  up 
in  heathen  darkness,  out  of  the  reach  of  the  means  of  grace, 
and  are  thus,  as  far  as  we  know,  actually  '  passed  by '  in  this 
world.  No  orthodox  system  can  logically  reconcile  this  stubborn 
and  awful  fact  with  the  universal  love  and  impartial  justice  of  God'* 
{Creeds  of  Christendom,  vol.  i.  p.  793.) 

Dr.  Emmons,  who  labored  hard  to  reconcile  this  doc- 
trine with  the  justice  of  God,  would  probably  have  been 
shocked  at  this  candid  admission  of  Dr.  Schaff ;  but  the 
strenuous  efforts  he  made  to  strengthen  this  obviously 
weak  point  in  his  theological  system  only  shows  that  he 
was  aware  of  one  of  its  greatest  difficulties.  Indeed, 
there  is  seldom  a  writer  on  this  doctrine  who  does  not, 
consciously  or  unconsciously,  betray  its  essential  defect. 

SAD    AND    LAMENTABLE. 

We  know,  for  instance,  of  no  preacher,  on  the  subject 
of  the  few  that  are  saved,  who  more  implicitly  believed 
it   than   Henry  Scougal  of   Aberdeen,  1650-1678.      He 


'^  MAJORITY   OF   MANKIND.  75 

even  praised  the  curiosity  of  the  man  who  asked  Jesus 
the  question  recorded  in  Luke ;  but  the  "  sad  and  lament- 
able" side  of  the  doctrine  did  not  escape  his  notice.  In 
his  sermon  entitled  "  That  there  are  but  a  Small  Number 
Saved,"  he  says;  — 

*'  Seeing  we  are  assured  that  there  are  different  and  very  pppo- 
site  estates  of  departed  souls,  some  being  admitted  into  happiness, 
and  others  doomed  to  misery,  beyond  anything  that  we  can  con- 
ceive; this  may  put  them  upon  farther  inquiry,  how  mankind 
is  like  to  be  divided  ?  Whether  heaven  or  hell  shall  have  the 
greater  share  ?  Such  a  laudable  curiosity  as  this  it  was,  that 
put  one  of  our  blessed  Saviour's  followers  to  pi'opose  the  question 
in  the  text :  '  Lord,  are  there  few  that  be  saved  ?  '  "  (Scougal, 
Works,  p.  131.) 

"Duty  doth  oblige  us,  and  the  Holy  Scriptures  will  warrant 
us  to  assure  you,  that  there  are  very  few  that  shall  be  saved ; 
that  the  whole  world  lieth  in  wickedness ;  and  that  they  are  a 
little  flock  to  whom  the  Father  will  give  the  kingdom."  (/6., 
p.  134.) 

"  The  doctrine  we  have  been  insisting  on  is  sad  and  lament- 
able ;  but  the  consideration  of  it  may  be  very  useful.  It  must 
needs  touch  any  serious  person  with  a  great  deal  of  grief  and 
trouble  to  behold  a  multitude  of  people  convened  together,  and  to 
think  that,  before  thirty  or  forty  years,  a  little  more  or  great 
deal  less,  they  shall  all  go  down  unto  the  dark  and  silent  grave, 
and  the  greater,  the  far  greater,  part  of  their  souls  shall  be 
damned  unto  endless  and  unspeakable  torments."    (lb.,  p.  147.) 

The  conflict  of  the  moral  sense  with  the  supposed  facts 
of  revelation  is  apparent  in  the  following:  — 

"  When  we  have  said  all  that  we  can  say,  there  are  many  that 
will  never  be  persuaded  of  the  truth  of  that  which  we  have  been 
proving.  They  cannot  think  it  consistent  with  the  goodness  and 
mercy  of  God,  that  the  greatest  part  of  mankind  should  be 
damned;  they  cannot  imagine  that  heaven  should  be  such  an 
empty  and  desolate  place,  and  have  so  very  few  to  inhabit  it. 
But  oh,  what  folly  and  madness  is  this,  for  sinful  men  to  set 
rules  unto  the  divine  goodness,  and  draw  conclusions  from  it  so 
expressly  contrary  to  what  himself  hath  revealed ! "  (/6., 
p.  146.) 


76  THE   DOOM    OF   THE 

There  are  still  many  who  think  it  "folly  and  madness" 
to  dispute  Orthodox  interpretations  of  the  Scripture,  or 
the  theological  tenets  concerning  the  destiny  of  man 
which  have  been  founded  upon  them  ;  but  the  moral 
sense  can  no  longer  be  defrauded  of  its  right  to  "  prove 
all  things,  and  hold  fast  that  which  is  good  ;"  and  we  mny 
feel  perfectly  confident  that  declarations  or  interpretations 
of  Scripture,  afiirmations  or  anathemas  of  creeds,  and  all 
practical  or  theoretical  assumptions  concerning  God  and 
humanity  which  affront  the  moral  sense,  must  sooner  or 
later  be  abandoned. 

EXCRUCIATING   THOUGHTS. 

In  a  missionary  sermon  delivered  in  1834,  Rev.  Gardiner 
Spring,  D.D.,  of  New  York,  presented  with  great  power 
some  of  the  "excruciatingr  thoughts"  which  believers  in 
this  doctrine  must  inevitably  suffer  :  — 

"  Who  can  tell  if  some  poor  Pagan  is  not  this  day  struggling 
for  the  assurance  of  a  happy  immortality,  who  '  through  your 
mercy  might  have  obtained  mercy.'  To  the  hopes  of  the  dying 
believer  he  is  a  stranger.  He  never  dwelt  in  a  Christian  land. 
He  never  heard  a  sermon,  nor  saw  a  Bible.  He  knows  not  that 
the  blood  of  Jesus  cleanseth  from  all  sin.  No ;  he  is  the  victim 
of  a  dark  and  dreadful  idolatry  1  Around  his  bed  of  death 
gather  the  shades  of  an  impenetrable  night.  Over  his  prospects 
for  eternity  are  collected  heavy  and  dense  clouds  of  unappeased 
indignation.  Approach  and  see.  His  bosom  is  torn  and  dis- 
tracted with  anguish.  His  lips  quiver  with  agony,  and  he  draws 
his  last  gasp  in  despair  !  And  oh,  that  it  were  one  solitaiy 
Pagan  only!  But,  think  of  Uoentif-fire  mdVwm  of  your  fellow- 
men  every  year  sinking  in  such  a  death ;  and  then  look  into  that 
deep  abyss,  where  millions  after  millions  of  years  roll  on,  and 
the  miserable  sufferers  encounter  new  dangers,  new  fears,  new 
scenes  of  anguish,  without  any  prospect  of  termination;  and 
what  emotions  of  grief,  abasement,  and  horror  may  smite  our 
bosoms!  '  We  are  verily  guilty  concerning  our  brother.'  Here 
are  miseries  which  our  faithfulness  might  have  relieved.  But 
for  our  guilty  slumber,  multitudes  of  these  immortal  beings 


MAJORITY    OF    MANKIND.  77 

might  have  been  trained  to  a  happy  immortality.  Excruciating 
thought !  O  immeasurable  responsibility  !  because  the  remedy 
for  these  woes  is  in  our  hands.  Sin  infinite!  to  be  washed  away 
only  by  atoning  blood."     (pp.  28,  29.) 

DARK    AND   DISTRESSING. 

Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  D.D.,  Professor  in  the  Theological 
Seminary,  Princeton,  N.  J.,  thus  calculated  in  1835:  — 

"  Of  the  eight  hundred  millions  of  the  world's  population, 
but  little  more  than  an  eightieth  part  are  even  professors  of 
religion  in  any  Scriptural  form,  or  claim  to  know  anything  of  its 
sanctifying  power.  .  .  .  Such  is,  confessedly,  at  present  the  <'/a?-fe 
and  distressing  state  of  the  great  mass  of  our  world's  popula- 
tion. .  .  .  What  a  little  remnant,  among  all  the  multiplied 
millions  of  mankind,  have  any  adequate  or  saving  knowledge  of 
the  religion  of  Christ  !  "  {Sermon  before  the  American  Boards 
1835,  p.  15.) 

AN    AWFUL    YIEW. 

The  following,  from  a  sermon  before  the  American 
Board  in  1859,  by  Rev.  Robert  W.  Patterson,  D.D.,  of 
Chicago,  completely  concedes  the  two  points  we  have 
endeavored  to  establish;  namely,  that  the  "majority" 
are  doomed  to  endless  woe  by  Orthodoxy ;  and  secondly, 
that  the  doctrine  is  one  "  awful "  to  contemplate.  It  is 
ui-ged  by  Dr.  Patterson  as  a  motive  for  missionary  effort :  — 

"  The  gi'eat  Scriptural  doctrine  that  this  is  the  only  place  of 
probation  to  the  members  of  our  fallen  race,  and  that  those  who 
die  out  of  Christ  are  lost  forever,  sets  before  our  minds  an  awful 
view  of  the  destiny  that  awaits  the  majority  of  the  living  generation 
of  our  race;  while  it  presses  home  an  appeal  to  the  sympathies 
of  all  who  know  the  value  and  preciousness  of  the  Christian 
hope,  which  must,  if  anything  can,  stir  them  up  to  make  haste 
and  send  the  word  of  life  to  their  dying  fellow-sinners.  It  bids 
us  to  keep  in  mind  that  the  time  is  short  within  which  there  can 
be  anything  done  to  save  the  six  hundred  millions  of  heathen, 
and  the  three  or  four  millions  of  Mohammedans  and  dead 
formalists  and  heartless  unbelievers,  who  are  now  hastening  to 


/O  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

the  close  of  their  probationary  life  without  any  preparation  for 
a  happy  eternity.  And  it  admonishes  us  to  remember  that  we 
ourselves  can  have,  at  the  most,  only  a  few  years  to  be  spent  in 
efforts  to  rescue  the  souls  of  our  fellow- heirs  of  immortality 
from  the  woes  of  the  second  death."     (p.  34.) 

PERSONAL   EXPEKIENCE. 

It  may  not  be  wholly  out  of  place  for  the  writer  to  add 
his  own  experience.  With  humiliation,  and  with  all  charity 
for  those  from  whom  he  now  differs,  he  must  confess  that 
he  once  held  this  doctrine  himself.  He  was  taught,  on 
uniting  with  the  Christian  Church,  that  it  was  infallibly 
revealed  in  the  Scriptures.  He  recalls  the  sense  of  hum- 
ble gratitude  he  experienced  when  he  felt  that  God  had 
called  him  from  before  the  foundation  of  the  world  to 
be  an  lieir  of  glory,  while  millions  of  others  better  entitled 
to  this  distinction,  the  vast  majority  of  the  race,  were  left 
to  perish.  He  recalls,  too,  the  terrible  conflict  which  this 
conviction  had  to  encounter  with  his  sentiments  of  justice 
and  benevolence;  his  struggle  with  creeds,  texts,  and 
"  divine  decrees,"  until  finally  he  determined  to  "  let  God 
be  true,  though  every  man  a  liar." 

2,    Evangelical  Protests, 

The  admissions  we  have  presented,  conceding  —  with 
dark,  mysterious,  sad,  lamentable,  awful,  and  various  other 
adjectives  —  the  painful  and  difiicult  features  of  this  view 
of  the  eternal  destiny  of  the  vast  majority  of  the  race, 
have  been  taken  enlirely  from  Evangelical  writers,  most 
of  them  accepting  the  doctrine  and  seeing  no  way  of 
escape  from  it.  We  now  call  to  the  witness-stand  another 
class  of  Evangelical  writers,  —  those  who  have  felt  the 
difficulties  and  implications  of  this  dogma  so  strongly 
that  they  have  been  obliged  to  abandon  some  of  its  most 
obnoxious  features  and  to  protest  against  them.  Most  of 
these  protests  are  not  directed  against  the  assumption  of 


MAJOEITY    OF    MANKIND.  79 

the  eternal  doom  of  the  majority,  but  against  the  as- 
sumption that  it  is  the  majority  of  mankind  that  are 
eternally  doomed.  It  is  the  first  assumption  that  consti- 
tutes the  chief  horror  of  this  doctrine.  If  that  were 
removed,  there  would  be  no  need  to  protest  against  the 
second.  Arminians  have  generally  been  quite  as  guilty 
as  Calvinists  in  teaching  the  endless  misery  of  those  who 
are  damned  ;  but  the  battle  between  them  has  related 
mainly  to  the  extent  of  the  atonement,  the  conditions 
of  salvation,  and  the  proportion  of  those  who  should  avail 
themselves  of  it.  As  we  have  seen  in  the  chapter  on 
the  Evangelical  Creeds,  the  Arminians  bitterly  reproached 
the  Calvinists  for  teaching  the  damnation  of  the  majority 
of  mankind.  Calvinism  has  never  been  able  to  clear  its 
skirts  of  this  reproach.  It  is  a  natural  and  logical  infer- 
ence from  its  theological  system ;  it  is  indelibly  written 
in  its  creeds  and  inscribed  in  its  literature,  and  remains 
to-day,  as  we  have  shown,  an  acknowledged  tenet  of  its 
modern  advocates.  Arminianism,  on  the  other  hand,  — 
while  in  some  of  its  presentations  it  has  taken  refuge  in 
the  miserable  device  of  water  baptism  to  wash  out  from 
the  blood  of  infants  the  taint  of  inherited  sin, — has  refused 
either  to  damn  infants  on  account  of  Adam's  transgres- 
sion, or  to  damn  the  heathen  for  not  accepting  a  gospel 
which  had  never  been  presented  to  them.  In  its  rejection 
of  the  harsh,  high  Calvinistic  views  of  predestination  and 
reprobation,  in  its  proclamation  of  an  unlimited  atone- 
ment and  the  freedom  of  all  men  to  accept  it,  Arminian- 
ism did  much  to  relieve  our  conception  of  the  character 
of  God  from  the  imputation  which  these  doctrines  have 
cast  upon  it. 

NOT   JESUS   BUT    THE    DEVIL. 

The  reproaches  which  modem  Universalists  and  Unita- 
rians have  cast  upon  Orthodoxy,  for  teaching  the  damna- 
tion of  the  majority,  have  not  been  more  severe  than  those 


80  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

which  have  sometimes  been  hurled  at  it  from  Evangelical 
and  Anti-Calvinistic  sources.  Curio,  in  1569,  instead  of 
attributing  the  opinion  of  the  fewness  of  the  saved  to 
Jesus,  went  so  far  as  to  attribute  it  to  the  devil,  arguing 
that  God  wished  to  pour  forth  his  goodness  and  pity  on 
the  most,  and  not  on  the  few.^  Curio  was  much  abused 
for  the  book,  but  two  hundred  years  later  Charles  Wesley 
made  precisely  the  same  charge.  Those  who  have  known 
the  Methodist  poet  only  in  his  milder  devotional  hymns 
may  be  surprised  to  see  with  what  bitter  sarcasm,  pointed 
invective,  and  intense  feeling  he  opposed  the  Calvinistic 
assumption  of  the  doom  of  the  majority.  His  series  of 
hymns  entitled  "  Hymns  on  God's  Everlasting  Love"  are 
nearly  all  of  them  directed  against  what  he  calls  this 
"hellish  blasphemy."  Note  the  keen  irony  and  bold 
denunciation  of  the  following :  — 


"Ah!  gentle  gracious  Dove, 

And  art  Thou  griev'd  in  me, 
That  sinners  should  restrain  thy  love, 

And  say,  '  It  is  not  free ; 

It  is  not  free  for  all : 

The  most  Thou  passest  by, 
And  mockest  with  a  fruitless  call 

Whom  Thou  hast  doom'd  to  die.* 

"  They  think  Thee  not  sincere 

In  giving  each  his  day, 
Thou  only  draw'st  the  sinner  near, 

To  cast  him  quite  away  : 

To  aggravate  his  Sin, 

His  sure  damnation  seal : 
Thou  shew'st  him  heaven,  and  say'st,  '  Go  in,' 

And  thrust'st  him  into  hell. 

1  Quoted  by  Farrar,  "Mercy  and  Judgment,"  p.  25. 


MAJOKITY    OF    MANKIND.  81 

"  O  Horrible  Decree, i 

Worthy  of  whence  it  came ! 
Forgive  their  hellish  blasphemy, 

Who  charge  it  on  the  Lamb : 

Whose  pity  Him  inclin'd 

To  leave  his  throne  above, 
The  friend  and  Saviour  of  mankind, 

The  God  of  grace  and  love. 


«  To  limit  Thee  they  dare, 

Blaspheme  Thee  to  thy  face, 
Deny  their  fellow- worms  a  share 

In  thy  redeeming  grace : 

All  for  their  own  they  take, 

Thy  righteousness  engross. 
Of  none  effect  to  most  they  make 

The  merits  of  thy  cross. 

"  Sinners,  abhor  the  fiend, 

His  other  gospel  hear, 
The  God  of  truth  did  not  intend 

The  thing  His  words  declare ; 

He  offers  grace  to  all, 

Which  most  cannot  embrace, 
Mock'd  with  an  ineffectual  call, 

And  insufficient  grace. 

"  The  righteous  God  consign'd 

Them  over  to  their  doom, 
And  sent  the  Saviour  of  mankind 

To  damn  them  from  the  womb; 

To  damn  for  falling  short 

Of  what  they  could  not  do. 
For  not  believing  the  report 

Of  that  which  was  not  true. 

1  Whenever  Wesley  uses  these  words  in  these  hymns  he  prints 
them  in  small  capitals.  The  capitalization  of  pronouns  referring  to 
Deity  is  irregular. 

6 


82  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

"  The  God  of  Love  past  by 
The  most  of  those  that  fell, 

Ordaiii'd  poor  reprobates  to  die, 
And  forc'd  them  into  hell, 
He  did  not  do  the  deed, 
(Some  have  more  mildly  rav'd). 

He  did  not  damn  them  —  but  decreed 
They  never  should  be  sav'd.  * 

"  He  did  not  them  bereave 

Of  Life,  or  stop  their  breath, 
His  grace  he  only  would  not  give. 

And  starv'd  their  souls  to  death. 

Satanic  sophistry! 

But  still  all-gracious  God, 
They  charge  the  sinner's  death  on  Thee, 

Who  bought'st  him  with  thy  blood. 

"  They  think  with  shrieks  and  cries 

To  please  the  Lord  of  Hosts, 
And  offer  Thee,  in  sacrifice, 

Millions  of  slaughter'd  ghosts; 

With  new-born  babes  they  fill 

The  dire  infernal  shade. 
For  such  (they  say)  was  thy  great  will 

Before  the  world  was  made. 

"  How  long,  O  God,  how  long 
Shall  Satan's  rage  proceed! 

Wilt  Thou  not  soon  avenge  the  wrong, 
And  crush  the  serpent's  head! 
Surely  Thou  shalt  at  last 
Bruise  him  beneath  our  feet; 

The  devil,  and  his  doctrine  cast 
Into  the  burning  pit. 

"  Arise,  O  God,  arise, 

Thy  glorious  truth  maintain, 
Hold  forth  the  bloody  sacrifice 
For  every  sinner  slain ! 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  83 

Defend  thy  mercy's  cause, 
Thy  grace  divinely  free  ; 
Lift  up  the  standard  of  thy  cross, 
Draw  all  men  unto  thee." 

(Hymns  on  God's  Everlasting  Love,  Hymn  xvii.  p.  30.) 

In  another  hymn  Wesley  indignantly  disclaims  ''the 
devil's  doctrine  : "  — 

"  God  forbid,  that  I  should  dare 
To  charge  my  death  on  Thee : 
No,  thy  truth  and  mercy  tear 

The  Horrible  Decree! 
Tho'  the  devil's  doom  I  meet, 
The  devil's  doctrine  I  disclaim ; 
Let  it  sink  into  the  pit 
Of  hell,  from  whence  it  came. 

(Hymn  vii.  p.  14.) 

The  following  is  Wesley's  not  very  courteous  explana- 
tion of  Calvinism :  — 

"  They  would  not  the  pure  truth  receive, 

Sav'd  when  they  might,  they  would  not  be, 

God  therefore  left  them  to  believe 
The  devil's  Horrible  Decree: 

And  lo !  they  still  believe  a  lye, 

That  God  did  Nine  in  Ten  pass  by. 

**  In  them  the  strong  delusion  reigns. 

That  none  but  they  in  Christ  have  hope. 
The  poison  spreads  throughout  their  veins, 

And  drinks  their  angry  spirits  up  ;  ^ 

'  Let  all  but  us  in  Tophet  dwell, 
Away  with  reprobates  to  hell.'  " 

(Hymn  x.  p.  62.) 

In  the  following  he  thanks  God  for  restraining  him 
from  believing  in  "  the  devil's  law :"  — 


84  THE   DOOM   OF    THE 

**  I  could  the  devil's  law  receive, 
Unless  restrain'd  by  thee; 
I  could,  (good  God! )  I  could  believe 
The  Horrible  Decree. 

"  I  could  believe  that  God  is  Hate, 
The  God  of  love  and  grace 
Did  damn,  pass  by,  and  reprobate 
The  most  of  human  race. 

**  Farther  than  this  I  cannot  go, 
Till  Tophet  take  me  in : 
But  O  forbid  that  I  should  know 
This  mystery  of  sin." 

(Hymn  vi.  p.  52.) 

"Wesley  even  prays  that  his  hate  of  this  doctrine  may 
be  increased ;  but  the  reader  of  these  poems  will  be  in- 
clined to  agree  with  his  surmise  that  that  is  hardly 
possible :  -— 

"Increase  (if  that  can  be) 

The  perfect  hate  I  feel 
To  Satan's  Horrible  Decree, 

That  genuine  child  of  hell ;  • 

Which  feigns  Thee  to  pass  hy 
The  most  of  Adamh  race, 
And  leave  them  in  their  blood  to  die, 
Shut  out  from  saving  grace." 

(Hymn  xii.  p.  66.) 

MODERN   METHODIST    PROTEST. 

Methodism  has  maintained  this  attitude  towards  Cal- 
vinism down  to  the  present  day.  But  a  few  weeks  since, 
Rev.  W.  F.  Mallalieu,  D.D.,  of  Boston,  said,  in  Zioiis 
Herald  (Jan.  31,  1883),  the  Methodist  paper  of  that 
city :  — 

*'  The  fact  must  pretty  soon  become  apparent  that  Orthodoxy 
will  have  to  give  up  Calvinism,  with  all  its  narrowness  and  incon- 


MAJORITY    OP   MANKIND.  85 

gruity,  or  it  will  disintegrate  at  a  rate  so  rapid  that  living  men 
will  see  the  last  of  it.  It  is  too  late  in  the  history  of  the  world 
to  undertake  to  defend  the  dogmas  of  Calvinism ;  they  deserve 
neither  defence  nor  apology;  they  have  dishonored  God  and  his 
gospel  from  the  very  first;  they  have  been  an  immeasurable 
hindrance  to  the  triumphs  of  Christianity;  and  the  sooner  they 
are  buried  in  the  grave  of  oblivion,  the  better  for  all  concerned." 

The  Central  Christian  Advocate^  an  organ  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  published  at  St.  Louis,  said  in  its  issue 
of  Feb.  28,  1883:  — 

"  Now  the  humanity  and  spirituality  of  this  century  has 
thoroughly  undermined  the  principles  of  this  un-Christian 
theology.  Men  are  no  longer  willing  to  believe  that  immortal 
souls  are  consigned  to  eternal  punishment  without  having  a 
chance  of  salvation.  And  this  doctrine  of  a  probation  after 
death  is  simply  a  metaphysical  scheme  to  save  a  tottering  theo- 
logical system.  .  .  .  Methodism  has  taught,  and  will  continue  to 
teach,  that  Christ  died  for  all  men,  and  that  all  men  will  be  saved 
who  make  the  best  of  the  light,  talents,  and  opportunities  which 
God  offers  them.  We  do  not  claim  to  be  able  to  explain  the 
divine  methods  perfectly,  but  we  affirm  with  confidence  that  God 
is  the  loving  Father,  wise,  just,  merciful,  and  loving,  not  desir- 
ing the  death  of  any,  but  offering  them  spiritual  help  and 
salvation.  Probation  after  death  is  simply  a  speculation,  and 
does  not  commend  itself  to  thoughtful  men.  Christ  teaches  us 
plainly  how  to  meet  these  questions  to  which  there  is  no  definite 
answer  in  his  own  words.  When  one  came  unto  him  and  asked, 
'  Are  they  few  that  be  saved  ?  '  his  answer  was,  '  Strive  to  enter 
in  at  the  strait  gate  ;  for  many,  I  say  unto  you,  will  seek  to 
enter  in,  and  shall  not  be  able.'  " 

Though  the  Methodist  Church  has  taken  strong  ground 
against  the  doom  of  the  majority^  and  though  the  doctrine 
of  everlasting  punishment  is  not  taught  in  its  "  Twenty- 
five  Articles  of  Religion  "  drawn  up  by  John  Wesley, 
yet  Methodists,  in  common  with  other  Arminian  bodies, 
have  preached  the  endless  doom  of  the  minority.  The  fear 
of  hell  has  been  a  great  weapon  in  Methodist  revivals,  and 


86  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

the  future  destiny  of  all  those  who  reject  the  atonement 
of  Christ  has  been  described  in  lurid,  sulphurous  language. 
There  is  no  worse  description  of  the  horrors  of  hell  in 
Jonathan  Edwards,  Boston,  or  Wigglesworth,  than  may 
be  found  in  Charles  Wesley's  hymn  entitled  "  The  Cry  of 
a  Reprobate."  ^ 

EPISCOPALIAN   PROTESTS. 

Some  of  the  most  earnest  and  determined  opponents  of 
this  doctrine  of  the  doom  of  the  majority  have  been  found 
among  preachers  and  writers  of  the  Church  of  England. 
We  need  only  refer  to  a  few. 

A  striking  repudiation  of  the  doctrine  is  found  in  a  tract 
entitled  "God's  Sovereignty  and  his  Universal  Love  to 
the  Souls  of  Men  reconciled,  in  a  reply  to  Mr.  Jonathan. 
Dickinson,"  by  John  Beach,  A.M.,  Boston,  1747 ;  and  a 
second  tract  by  the  same  author  entitled  "  A  Second  Vin- 
dication of  God's  Sovereign  Free  Grace  indeed,"  Boston, 
1748.     In  the  course  of  this  debate  Mr.  Beach  said :  — 

"  But  to  draw  the  Picture  of  the  ever-blessed  God  according 
to  our  Idea  of  the  very  worst  of  Beings  ;  to  represent  him  as  an 
Hater  of  the  greater  Part  of  Mankind^  as  one  who  hated  his  own 
Offspring  before  they  were  born,  and  resolved  to  damn  them  to 
Hell- Torments  before  they  had  done  Good  or  Evil,  or  were  capa- 
ble of  offending  him,  mei-ely  to  shew  his  Sovereignty,  and  that 
he  can  do  what  he  pleases  with  his  own ;  as  one  whose  Justice  is 
such,  that  he  sets  the  Children's  Teeth  on  Edge,  because  their 
Father  had  eaten  sour  Grapes  Thousands  of  Years  before  they 
were  born ;  and  makes  them  a  motly  Mixture  of  Beast  and  Dev'd^ 
as  fast  as  he  gives  them  Being,  because  Adam  sinned,  which 
was  not  in  their  Power  to  prevent,  as  one  whose  Love  to  the 
Souls  of  men  is  so  very  little  that  when  all  might  have  been 
redeemed  by  Christ's  Passion  as  well  as  a  few,  he  of  his  meer 
Pleasure  chose  that  the  bigger  Part  hy  far  of  them  who  equally 
needed  it,  and  would  have  equally  improved  it,  should  be  excluded, 
and  shut  out,  and  have  no  Part  or  Share  in  it;  not  because  it 

1  Hymns  on  God's  Everlasting  Love ;  Hymn  xi.  p.  21. 


MAJORITY    OF    MANKIND.  87 

would  have  made  any  Addition  to  Christ's  Sufferings,  but  merely 
because  God  did  not  chuse  that  they  should  be  saved.  And 
though  he  declares  his  most  tender  Love  to  Mankind,  and  his 
compassionate  Concern  for  their  Salvation,  and  intreats  them  to 
be  happy,  and  swears  to  them  that  he  does  not  will  their  Death, 
but  their  Conversion  and  Life,  and  asks  them  affectionately,  why 
they  will  d^e  ?  and  how  long  it  will  be  ere  they  be  made  clean  ? 
and  what  could  be  done  for  them  more  ?  and  wishes  they  w^ould 
hearken  to  him,  and  says:  O  that  thou  hadst  known  the  Things 
that  belong  to  thy  Peace,  yet  notwithstanding  all  this  Show  of 
Mercy,  his  secret  Decree  and  unchangeable  Will  and  Desire  is, 
that  the  most  of  them  shall  burn  forever  in  that  Fire  prepared 
for  the  obstinate  Devil  and  his  Angels.  And  therefore  would 
not  that  his  Son  should  eft'ectually  redeem  them,  or  his  Spirit 
yield  them  sufficient  Grace,  without  which  he  knew,  they  could 
no  more  escape  Hell  than  they  could  shun  Death.  Now  when 
we  represent  God  to  our  Minds  surrounded  with  this  amazing 
Horror,  how  can  we  prevent  our  Hearts  rising  against  him,  and 
wishing  there  was  no  such  God.  I  profess  for  my  Part,  I  had 
rather  a  Million  Times,  never  to  have  had  a  Being,  than  to 
think  thus  of  God."  (A  Second  Vindication  of  God^s  Sovereign 
Free  Grace  indeed ^  p.  80.) 

More  than  a  hundred  years  have  passed  since  this  was 
written,  and,  sad  to  relate,  there  is  still  occasion  for  the 
same  protest. 

Mr.  Beach  further  said  in  regard  to  the  heathen :  — 

"  You  take  it  for  granted,  that  we  have  the  same  Notion  of 
the  Heathen  World,  as  you  have  of  the  Reprobates  who  were 
doomed  to  Hell- Fire  before  they  were  bom,  and  when  brought 
into  Being  are  left  under  a  Necessity  of  being  wicked  and  mis- 
erable ;  but  you  are  very  much  mistaken ;  for  we  utterly  deny 
that  the  Heathen  are  left  under  a  Necessity  of  being  Eternally 
miserable,  and  I  am  sure  you  cannot  prove  it  till  the  day  of 
Judgment,  when  we  shall  see  how  God  will  deal  with  them." 
(God's  Sovereignty  and  His  Universal  Love,  ^c,  p.  38.) 

Dr.  Thomas  Pyle,  Canon  of  Sarum,  and  author  of 
"  A  Paraphrase  on  the  Acts  of   the  Apostles  and   the 


88  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

Epistles,"  devotes  two  of  his  Sixty  Sermons  to  the  theme, 
"  Are  there  few  that  be  saved  ?  "  and  says  :  — 

*'  Honest  and  well-meaning  Christians,  whose  lot  in  life  hap- 
pens to  fall  in  an  age  of  irreligion  and  vice,  are  wont  to  be 
disheartened  at  the  woful  prospect  of  the  final  state  of  their 
fellow-creatures.  To  think  that  the  far  greater  part  of  their  own 
species,  of  their  own  image,  will  utterly  perish  and  be  undone, 
is  a  most  uncomfortable  thought."  (Pyle^s  Sermons,  177'3, 
p.  438.) 

"From  a  right  interpretation  of  these  Scriptures,  must  appear 
the  strange  and  wretched  mistake  of  those  Christians  who 
ascribe  the  smallness  of  the  number  of  such  as  they  suppose  will 
be  saved,  to  some  absolute  and  arbitrary  decree  of  God,  by 
which  he  selects  a  chosen  few,  and  rejects  all  others,  — an  opinion 
against  which  men  can  never  be  too  often  cautioned  ;  since  it 
effaces,  and  strikes  out,  every  amiable  character  that  is  given  us 
of  God,  and  spoils  the  whole  sense  and  purpose  of  our  gospel 
account  of  rewards  and  punishments."     {Ibid.,  p.  442.) 

"  These  Scriptures  never  make,  nor  were  ever  designed  to 
make,  any  absolute  comparison  between  the  numbers  of  such  as 
will  be  finally  saved,  or  finally  lost.  They  only  set  forth  the 
qualifications  requisite  to  save  all  men;  namely,  righteousness, 
and  a  watchful  care,  and  a  good  improvement  of  the  talents  and 
graces  committed  to  us  all  ;  and  the  certain  reasons  why  any 
will  be  left  to  perish,  viz.,  wilful  negligence,  and  deliberate 
vice."     (Ibid.,^.  428.) 

Bishop  Colenso  of  Natal,  after  quoting  passages  from 
an  American  Missionary  Report,  in  which  the  heathen  are 
sorrowfully  consigned  to  hell  (see  page  66,  ante),  enters 
"a  solemn  protest  against  such  views,  as  utterly  contrary 
to  the  whole  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  —  as  obscuring  the  Grace 
of  God  and  perverting  his  message  of  Love  and  Good- 
will to  Man,  and  operating  with  most  injurious  and  dead- 
ening effect,  both  on  those  who  teach  and  on  those  who 
are  taught."  ^ 

1  Ten  Weeks  in  Natal,  p.  253. 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  89 

Rev.  F.  Nutcombe  Oxenham,  in  his  reply  to  Dr.  Pusey 
already  referred  to,  entitled,  "  What  is  the  Truth  as  to 
Everlasting  Punishment,"  shows  that  the  doctrine  that 
the  vast  majority  are  to  be  lost  has  contributed  very 
largely  to  undemiine  belief  in  endless  punishment.  This 
is  one  of  the  few  things  for  which  we  have  to  thank  this 
painful  dogma :  — 

"  No  doubt  it  is  perfectly  true,  as  Dr.  Pusey  intimates,  that 
the  thought  of  these  vast  multitudes  '  going  away  '  to  suffer  the 
'  damnum '  which  awaits  all  evil-doers,  has  contributed  very 
largely  to  enforce  a  conviction  that  this  'damnum,'  this  punish- 
ment, will  not  be  endless.  It  has  done  so,  and  it  ought  to  have 
done  so,  and  it  always  will  do  so ;  and  as  long  as  reasonable 
Christian  men,  not  driven  by  the  exigencies  of  controversy  to 
rely  on  idle  and  groundless  sophistries,  form  their  belief  in  this 
matter  not  simply,  though  primarily,  on  the  testimony  of  Holy 
Scriptures,  but  also  on  the  teaching  of  what  they  see  in  the  world 
around  them,  they  will  continue  to  believe  that  '  the  wicked,' 
those  who  die  wicked,  are  many  and  not  few,  a  vast  muUitude,  — 
fearful  to  contemplate,  whether  they  are  actually  a  numerical 
majority  of  all  mankind  or  not;  and  they  will  not  believe  that 
all  these  are  hopelessly  and  finally  lost,  that  all  these  will  be  kept 
alive  forever,  simply  to  be  '  punished  with  the  devil.'  "    (p.  42.) 

Canon  Farrar  we  may  expect  to  find  warmly  denounc- 
ing the  popular  views :  — 

"  If  the  popular  views  be  true,  the  multiplication  of  the  human 
race  is  an  unmitigated  evil,  for  it  serves  mainly  to  people  with 
agonizing  myriads  an  endless  hell.  If  the  popular  views  be 
true  —  if  most  souls  are  lost  —  then  to  bring  human  beings  into 
the  world  can  be  little 'short  of  a  selfish  crime."  (Mercy  and 
Judgment,  p.  138.) 

Canon  Farrar  has  not  stated  his  protest  any  too 
strongly. 

CONGREGATIONAL   PROTESTS. 

There  have  not  been  wanting  Congregational  ministers 
also  who  have  disowned  and  rebuked  this  doctrine,  though 
they  have  been  obliged  to  deny  Calvinism  and  oppose 


90  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

Congregational  confessions  of  faith  in  order  to  do  so. 
Rev.  W.  W.  Patton,  in  an  article  on  the  True  Theory  of 
Missions,  quotes  the  tenth  chapter  of  the  Westminster 
Confession,^  which  plumply  consigns  the  whole  heathen 
world  to  eternal  destruction,  and  says :  — 

"  This  is  sufficiently  positive,  especially  as  it  contradicts  both 
our  Saviour  and  the  Apostle  Paul.  It  represents  heathen  who 
live  according  to  their  light  as  '  much  less  '  able  to  be  saved  than 
men  who  hear  the  gospel  and  reject  it,  thus  directly  contradicting 
our  Saviour,  who  declared  that  those  who  rejected  his  words 
would  receive  a  heavier  condemnation  than  even  the  depraved, 
unrepentant  inhabitants  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  or  Tyre  and 
Sidon  (Matt.  xi.  20-24).  The  '  Confession  of  Faith  '  declares 
the  salvation  of  conscientious  heathen  to  be  '  much  less '  pos- 
sible than  that  of  unbelieving  hearers  of  the  gospel;  while  Christ 
asserts,  that  even  the  most  flagrant  sinners  of  the  heathen  shall 
find  it  '  more  tolerable '  in  the  day  of  Judgment,  than  such 
unbelievers.  Equally  at  variance  with  the  '  Confession  of 
Faith  '  is  the  declaration  of  Paul  in  Rom.  ii.  14,  26,  27,  in  which 
he  shows  how  those  '  having  not  the  law  may  be  a  law  unto 
themselves,'  and  how  their  '  uncircuracision  shall  be  counted  for 
circumcision.'"     {Bibliotheca  Sacra,  July,  1858,  p.  553.) 

Dr.  Patton  exposes  the  moral  objections  to  this  doctrine 
with  considerable  force  ;  — 

"  It  is  revolting  to  our  moral  sense.  ...  To  assert  gravely, 
then,  that  the  heathen  who  have  never  heard  of  Christ,  are  shut 
out  from  all  possible  hope  of  pardon  and  are  not  in  a  salvable 
position  in  their  present  circumstances,  is  to  offend  the  moral 
sense  of  thoughtful  men,  as  well  as  that,  of  the  common  multi- 
tude. .  .  .  Such  a  theory  practically  denies  the  divine  grace  by 
suspending  its  exercise,  so  far  as  the  heathen  (the  majority  of  the 
human  race)  are  concerned,  upon  the  action  of  those  already 
enlightened.  It  declares  that  there  is  no  possible  mercy  for  the 
heathen  unless  Christians  choose  to  carry  the  gospel  to  them. 
Does  it  seem  rational,  or  in  harmony  with  the  universality  and 
freedom  of  God's  grace,  that  the  only  possibility  of  salvation 

1  Quoted  on  p.  41. 


MAJORITY   OF   MANKIND.  91 

for  the  mass  of  mankind  should  be  suspended,  not  on  anything 
within  their  control,  but  on  the  conduct  of  men  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  globe?  By  such  representations  the  minds  of  men 
are  shocked,  and  a  reaction  takes  place,  which  is  unfavorable 
not  only  to  the  cause  of  missions,  but  to  evangelical  religion  as 
well."     {Ibid.,  p.  554.) 

Rev.  Washington  Gladden,  in  a  discourse  printed  in  the 
Springfield  Repuhlicayi,  March  15,  1879,  after  making 
various  citations  showing  the  harsh  nature  of  Calvinism, 
said :  — 

"  Do  not  the  citations  that  I  have  shown  you,  outlining  the 
history  of  several  doctrines,  indicate  that  the  men  who  framed 
and  taught  these  doctrines  must  have  been  somewhat  deficient 
in  moral  perception?  Could  their  ideas  of  right  and  wrong  have 
been  very  clear  ?  I  bring  against  them  no  railing  accusation. 
Out  of  their  own  mouths  you  have  been  permitted  to  judge 
them.  I  believe  that  most  of  them  were  good  men,  that  many 
of  them  were  brave,  faithful,  self-sacrificing,  that  we  may  find 
in  their  conduct  worthy  examples  of  purity  and  consecration; 
but  I  do  not  think  that  their  moral  standards,  their  notions  of 
justice  and  righteousness,  can  be  accepted  at  this  day." 

OTHER   PROTESTS. 

The  Boston  Sunday  JTer aid  (Jan.  7, 1883),  in  an  article 
entitled  "  Hell-Fire  Missions,"  says :  — 

*'  The  doom  of  the  majority  is  one  of  those  theological  fictions 
which  can  be  traced  to  a  strictly  human  origin,  and  is  against 
the  belief  in  a  whole  God,  a  whole  Christ,  and  a  true  realization 
of  the  ends  of  human  existence." 

The  New  York  Independent,  Jan.  16,  1883,  admits  that 
some  way  out  of  this  doctrine  must  be  found.  In  dis- 
cussing the  question  of  probation  after  death,  it  says :  — 

*'  Only  one  thing  will  persuade  thinking  men  to  adopt  it  ; 
and  that  will  be  the  conviction  that,  without  it,  God's  experiment 
of  humanity  is  a  failure,  and  that  there  are  few  that  be  saved. 
If  it  be  really  true  that  on  this  theory  the  great  majority  of  the 


92  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

world  are  lost,  if  that  be  the  outcome  of  the  New  England 
theology,  as  the  Christian  Register  is  now  trying  to  show  in  reply 
to  Dr.  Withrow,  then  we  may  be  sure  that  some  escape  from  that 
conclusion  will  be  sought,  if  not  by  adopting  Dorner's  theory, 
then  by  some  improvement  on  the  New  England  theology.  VVe 
confess  that  we  are  startled  by  what  Mr.  Cook  ^  yields  as  to  the 
salvation  of  the  heathen.  He  says,  '  Human  nature  is  such, 
however,  that  only  a  few  among  millions  do  accept  the  essential 
Christ  of  conscience.'  We  do  not  see  how  that  can  be  safely 
asserted." 

PRACTICAL   FAILURE    OF    THE    DOCTRINE. 

In  addition  to  the  admissions  and  testimonies  we  have 
presented  to  the  moral  and  theoretical  difficulties  of  the 
doctrine,  a  powerful  argument  against  it  is  found  in  its 
inadequacy  as  a  practical  missionary  motive.  We  have 
shown  in  the  previous  chapter  how  constantly  the  lost 
state  of  the  vast  majority  of  mankind  has  been  urged  as 
an  incentive  to  missionary  zeal.  It  has  failed,  however, 
to  convert  the  heathen  world,  because  the  heathen  cannot 
be  made  to  realize  their  eternally  lost  condition.  We 
acknowledge  the  great  good  foreign  missions  have  accom- 
plished ;  but  what  they  have  wrought  for  the  elevation, 
instruction,  and  improvement  of  the  temporal  condition 
of  the  heathen,  whatever  they  have  done  towards  ushering 
in  a  nobler  form  of  life,  cannot  be  credited  to  the  preach- 
ing of  this  doctrine.  These  incidental  and  practical  results 
are  to  us  the  really  valuable  features  of  missionary  work ; 
but  they  are  not  what  has  been  primarily  aimed  at,  and 
they  could  more  easily  have  been  achieved  by  more  direct 
means.  We  have  the  confession  of  Dr.  Hopkins,  Dr. 
Goodwin,  and  a  host  of  preachers,  that  all  these  results 
are  inadequate  compared  with  the  salvation  of  the  heathen 
soul.  Nevertheless,  after  all  that  has  been  done,  the  hea- 
then are  not  converted;  the  vast  majority,  if  Orthodoxy 

1  For  Mr.  Joseph  Cook's  attempted  palliation  of  the  doctrine,  see 
paragraph  on  "  The  Essential  Christ''  in  the  succeeding  chapter." 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  ^3 

be  true,  are  still  under  this  terrible  curse,  and  daily  going 
to  a  horrible  doom.  In  a  missionary  sermon  delivered  in 
1863,  Rev.  Dr.  Cleaveland,  of  New  Haven,  said:  — 

"  Fifty  years  ago  the  heathen  were  estimated,  in  round  num- 
bers, at  six  hundred  millions.  You  remember  how  those  terrific 
figures,  emblazoned  before  the  eyes  of  Christendom,  trumpeted 
in  startling  appeals  from  land  to  land,  were  employed  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  as  one  of  the  grand  arguments  that  first  roused 
the  Church  to  the  work  of  modern  missions.  Now  let  me  ask. 
What,  after  a  half-century  of  missionary  labor,  is  the  present 
number  of  the  heathen?  Can  we  report  any  material  diminution 
in  those  dreadful  figures  ?  Can  we  reduce  them  by  so  much  as 
one  million,  or  even  half  a  million  ?  No.  Thousands  and  tens 
of  thousands  have  been  brought  to  Christ,  but  there  are  six 
hundred  millions  still !  The  banner  of  the  cross  has  been  planted 
in  almost  every  pagan  land,  and  many  are  the  witnesses  for  Jesus 
among  those  idolaters.  Still  there  are  the  countless  masses  of 
India,  the  untrodden  depths  of  Africa,  and  the  unexplored 
regions  of  China  ;  as  if,  in  defiance  of  all  our  eiforts,  heathenism 
still  glories  in  her  proud  temples,  still  whitens  the  earth  with  the 
bones  of  her  victims,  and  darkens  the  sky  with  the  smoke  of 
her  idolatrous  sacrifices.  .  .  .  Glorious  things  have  been 
achieved,  it  is  true.  But,  after  all,  there  are  the  six  hundred 
millions  still  groping  in  the  shadow  of  death,  and  perishing, 
twenty  millions  a  year!  '* 

We  have  already  noted  the  confession  of  Rev.  Dr.  Kirk, 
"  that  more  pagans  are  born,  more  die,  in  one  year,  than 
have  been  converted  in  over  fifty  years." 

But  this  motive  has  not  only  proved  inadequate  to  con- 
vert the  heathen ;  it  has  also  failed  to  impress  Christians 
with  its  truthfulness.  The  Christian  world  has  never 
acted  as  if  it  really  believed  this  terrible  doctrine.  Now 
and  then,  under  the  influence  of  missionary  meetings, 
when  the  lost  state  of  the  heathen  has  been  presented  as 
a  motive  with  earnestness  and  power,  spasmodic  efiTorts 
have  been  made  to  conceive  and  act  upon  it  as  if  it  were 


94  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

a  dreadful  reality ;  but  such  results  have  only  been  tem- 
porary. The  Orthodox  Christian  world  lives,  for  the 
most  part,  as  if  the  doctrine  were  not  true.  The  mis- 
sionaries themselves  have  again  and  again  arraigned  the 
indifference  of  Christians  on  this  subject  so  thoroughly  as 
to  relieve  us  from  the  necessity  of  any  such  disagreeable 
task.  Rev.  George  H.  Pond,  a  Presbyterian  missionary, 
shows  how  fully  this  idea  has  taken  hold  upon  the 
churches : — 

"  They  often  hear  the  Macedonian  cry  come  up  from  the 
perishing  millions,  and  they  echo  that  cry  in  the  ears  of  the 
churches  at  home,  and  still  there  is  no  response,  or,  if  the  churches 
return  an  answer,  it  is  often  only  that  the  treasuries  are  empty, 
or  that  the  men  cannot  be  found  who  are  willing  to  go  ;  while  it  is 
well  known  that  multitudes  in  these  very  churches  are  amassing 
wealth  by  hundreds,  by  thousands,  and  by  tens  of  thousands, 
and  that  scores  and  hundreds  of  ministers  even  are  seeking  in 
vain  to  crowd  themselves  into  the  towns  and  cities  of  our  own 
country,  many  of  which  are  already  more  than  supplied.  Does 
not  this  state  of  things  evince  an  astonishing  amount  of  unbelief 
on  the  part  of  multitudes  of  the  professed  friends  of  Jesus  and 
♦of  his  cause  on  earth?  If  not,  what  does  it  mean,  when  we  see 
countless  multitudes  of  our  fellow-creatures  groping  their  dark 
way  down  to  the  regions  of  death  and  hell,  perishing  for  lack 
of  knowledge,  with  no  one  to  instruct  them,  while  our  churches 
are  full  of  the  professed  followers  of  the  toiling,  suffering,  self- 
sacrificing  Saviour,  who  are  loading,  burdening,  themselves  wath 
costly  but  useless  and  often  disgusting  ornaments  to  feed  their 
vanity,  and  luxuriating  in  wealth  while  their  Lord's  treasury  is 
empty,  or  only  stingily  supplied  with  a  very  small  part  of  the 
unused  surplus  of  the  proud  rich,  mingled  with  the  mites  of 
the  poor.  .  .  . 

"  The  churches  do  not  believe  the  testimony  of  Scriptures  touching 
this  matter.  They  do  not  believe  that  the  heathen  will  be  turned 
into  hell  with  all  the  nations  that  forget  God.  .  .  .  They  do  not 
believe  that  the  gospel  can  renovate  and  save  the  degraded  and 
idolatrous  nations,  and  that  '  there  is  no  other  name,'  except  the 
name  of  Jesus,  'given  under  heaven,  whereby  we  must  be 
saved.'  "     (Presbyterian  Quarterly  Review^  Jan.  1861.) 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  95 

Such  an  ai-raignment  of  the  Church  from  a  Christian 
missionary  is  very  significant.  It  shows  what  has  always 
been  apparent,  that  the  professed  belief  of  Christians  and 
their  actual  belief  on  this  subject  are  wider  apart  than 
the  gulf  which  separated  Dives  from  Lazarus. 

Bishop  Colenso,  himself  a  missionary  to  the  heathen, 
rejecting  this  doctrine  of  the  damnation  of  the  heathen, 
thus  reproaches  those  who  profess  to  believe  it :  — 

"  Why!  if  such  be  indeed  the  condition  of  the  heathen  world, 
how  can  a  Christian  comfortably  eat  butter  with  his  bread,  ride 
in  a  carriage,  wear  a  fine  nap  upon  his  coat,  or  enjoy  one  of  the 
commonest  blessings  of  daily  life?  What  a  monster  of  selfish- 
ness that  man  must  be,  who  could  endure  the  thought  of  ease,  or 
enjoyment  in  body  or  soul,  for  himself,  while  such  was  the 
horrible  destiny  of  so  many  millions  of  his  fellow-men,  simply 
because  they  knew  not  —  had  never  heard  of  —  that  name  of 
Love,  and  the  Hope  of  Life  Eternal."  {Ten  Weeks  in  Natal j 
p.  253.) 


Attempted  Mitigations. 

The  preceding  chapter  has  made  it  evident  that  there 
are  many  who  are  not  insensible  to  the  intellectual  and 
ethical  difificulties  of  this  doctrine.  With  Dr.  Barnes,  Dr. 
Shedd,  and  Dr.  Schaff,  they  admit  the  "  dark  and  awful " 
character  of  a  belief  which  consigns  millions  on  millions 
of  mankind  to  endless  woe ;  but  accepting  without  ques- 
tion the  premises  on  which  the  doctrine  is  founded,  they 
see  no  way  to  avoid  the  logic  of  the  doctrine  itself.  They 
therefore  take  refuge  in  an  entrenchment  to  which  Cal\  in- 
ism  has  often  been  obliged  to  retreat  when  hotly  pressed 
by  its  opponents ;  they  hide  themselves  in  the  very  dark- 
ness they  have  created,  saying,  with  Dr.  Schaff,  it  is  "  a 
deep  and  dark  mystery;"  or,  with  Dr.  Albert  Barnes, 
"  It  is  all  dark,  dark  to  ray  soul,  and  I  cannot  disguise  it." 


96  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

There  are  no  manifestations  of  the  strength  of  the  reli- 
gious sentiment  which  are  more  sublime  than  when  it 
throws  itself  back  upon  its  trust  in  the  mercy  and  good- 
ness of  God,  though  it  can  see  no  intellectual  or  moral 
ground  for  affirming  them.  Such  occasions  may  arise  in 
individual  experiences  in  practical  life,  when  the  view  of 
God's  dealings  is  limited  to  single  and  isolated  examples, 
or  confined  to  a  small  portion  of  time ;  they  do  not  arise, 
however,  in  any  large  and  enlightened  conception  of  God 
and  of  the  universe  which  he  governs.  To  take,  as 
Calvinism  asks  us  to  do,  a  sweeping  view  of  the  whole 
universe,  over  immeasurable  eternities,  embracing  the  en- 
tire history  of  God's  dealings  with  the  whole  human  race, 
—  not  only  here,  but  in  the  interminable  future  in  which 
human  destiny  is  conceived  to  be  fixed,  —  and  then  to  adudt 
that  our  conception  of  God  is  one  which  cannot  be  recon- 
ciled with  his  mercy  and  goodness,  is  to  put  the  religious 
sentiment  to  a  greater  strain  than  it  can  be  expected  to 
bear.  However  admirable  the  strength  this  sentiment 
has  exhibited  in  coping  with  this  difficulty,  we  deem  it  a 
far  higher  and  purer  exhibition  of  its  authority,  when, 
instead  of  meekly  acknowledging  such  conceptions  of  the 
dark  nature  of  God  and  of  his  government,  it  grandly 
refuses  to  accept  the  premises  on  which  they  are  founded. 
To  admit  that  God  has  so  created  and  governed  the 
world  that  the  vast  majority  of  the  race  are  destined  to 
perish,  is  a  reflection  upon  the  divine  mercy  and  good- 
ness ;  but  also  upon  the  divine  wisdom.  A  farmer  who, 
by  his  own  inaction,  should  allow  the  greatest  portion  of 
his  crop  to  rot  when  he  might  have  gathered  it  all,  would 
be  considered  a  poor  farmer.  A  king  who  should  so 
manage  his  realm  as  to  involve  the  far  greater  part  of  his 
subjects  in  hopeless  misery,  would  be  considered  a  very 
unskilful  ruler.  If  we  knew,  also,  that  it  was  in  his  power, 
by  a  simple  royal  mandate,  to  grant  to  every  one  of  liis 
subjects  the  happiness  enjoyed  by  a  few,  we  should  think 


MAJORITY    OF    MANKIND.  97 

he  had  a  bad  heart  if  he  did  not  issue  it.  It  is  no  won- 
der, then,  that  Calvinism  has  often  writhed  under  the 
reproaches  which  liave  been  cast  upon  it  for  teaching  the 
damnation  of  the  majority,  and  that  it  has  sought  in 
various  ways  to  soften  the  harshness  of  the  doctrine. 
These  earnest  attempts  show  the  modifications  which 
have  taken  place  in  Calviuisra  itself.  It  has  widely 
departed  from  its  historic  and  original  form.  The  cur- 
rent Calvinism  of  the  day  is  at  variance  with  its  ancient 
standards.  We  have  already  referred  to  the  change  of 
view  which  has  taken  place  in  regard  to  inf.mt  damnation. 
Early  Calvinism  asserted  it;  modern  Calvinism  repudiates 
it,  though  it  still  holds  to  creeds  which  naturally  imply  it. 
These  departures  from  early  Calvinism  are  the  result  of 
the  pressure  of  a  nobler  view  of  Christianity,  and  the 
development  of  a  higher  form  of  civilization.  As  Chan- 
nino^  well  said  :  "  Calvinism  has  to  contend  with  foes  more 
formidable  than  theologians  ;  with  foes  from  whom  it 
cannot  shield  itself  in  mystery  and  metaphysical  subtili- 
ties  —  we  mean  with  the  progress  of  the  human  mind, 
and  with  the  progress  of  the  spirit  of  the  gospel."  ^ 

The  expedients  which  have  been  invented  to  save  Cal- 
vinism have  acted  powerfully  to  disintegrate  it.  The 
original  system  was  mercilessly  logical.  Having  laid 
down  his  foundation  premises,  Calvin  had  the  courage  to 
build  his  system  upon  them.  He  drew  a  straight  line  from 
premise  to  conclusion.  Modern  Calvinism  pretends  to 
accept  the  premises,  but  seeks  to  avoid  the  conclusions. 
The  line  it  draws  is  not  straight,  but  sinuous.  It  falters, 
wavers,  and  evades.  The  beautiful  logical  symmetry  of 
the  system  is  destroyed.  Modern  Calvinism  is  inconsist- 
ent and  contradictory.  It  seeks  to  read  new  meanings 
into  old  documents.  It  invents  explanations,  probabilities, 
and  mitigations.  Much  of  the  strength  of  modern  Cal- 
vinism is  exerted  in  apologizing  for  its  parentage,  or  in 

*  Moral  Argument  against  Calvinism,  p.  468. 
7 


98  THE    DOOM   OF    THE 

the  more  fruitless  task  of  trying  to  build  a  sightly  and 
hospitable  structure  on  the  old  foundation.  Nevertheless, 
though  inconsistent,  illogical,  and  inartistic,  there  is  more 
heart  in  the  derived  form  than  there  was  in  the  original. 
Early  high  Calvinism  had  looked  so  steadily  at  the  face 
of  its  terrible  Gorgon-God  that,  like  those  who  gazed 
upon  Medusa,  it  had  well-nigh  been  turned  into  stone. 
But  that  Gorgonian  head  has  lost  much  of  its  power  to 
petrify  human  sensibility.  There  is  a  new  leaven  working 
to-day ;  and  may  we  not  hope  that  eventually  the  new 
leaven  may  purge  out  that  which  is  old  ? 

What  now  are  some  of  the  methods  with  which  modern 
Orthodoxy  seeks  to  avoid  the  reproach  of  this  doctrine 
that  the  majority  are  lost  ? 

THE   INFANTILE    QUIBBLE. 

It  is  argued  by  some  that  as  Protestants,  both  Calvin- 
ists  and  Arminians,  now  generally  admit  that  all  dying 
in  infancy  are  saved,  therefore,  as  the  majority  of  the  race 
die  young,  the  majority  of  the  race  will  be  saved.  This 
position  is  taken  in  defiance  of  the  Westminster  and  the 
Augsburg  confessions,  both  of  which,  historically  inter- 
preted, teach  the  damnation  of  infants.  The  numerical 
quibble  aifords  no  relief,  however,  from  the  moral  difii- 
culties  of  the  doctrine;  for  it  still  remains  true,  according 
to  Orthodoxy,  that  the  vast  majority  of  the  adult  portion 
of  mankind  are  lost. 

We  are  quite  content  to  let  our  indictment  of  Calvin- 
istic  Orthodoxy  rest  upon  the  doctrines  which  it  still 
teaches;  we  do  not  upbraid  it  for  those  it  has  outgrown. 
It  still  teaches  that  the  vast  majority  of  the  adult  popu- 
lation of  the  globe  are  doomed  to  irretrievable  misery.  It 
is  this  doctrine  that  we  urge  it  to  repudiate  as  blasphe- 
mous and  untrue. 

Canon  Farrar  was  met  with  this  quibble.    He  says :  ^  — 

1  Mercy  and  Judgment,  p.  140. 


MAJORITY   OF   MANKIND.  99 

"  Even  in  some  of  the  so-called  answers  to  my  sermons,  the 
difficulty  was  only  met  by  the  argument  that  '  the  majority 
of  mankind  die  in  infancy  and  therefore  that  the  majority  of 
mankind  would  be  saved.'  It  is  not  worth  while  to  argue  with 
writers  who  take  refuge  in  quibbles.  By  the  '  majority  of  man- 
kind,' I  mean,  as  all  serious  writers  have  meant,  the  majority 
of  those  who  have  attained  to  years  of  discretion.  But  by  using 
such  an  argument  these  writers  imply  their  belief,  and  it  is  still 
the  common  opinion  of  those  who  claim  to  be  '  orthodox,'  —  too 
often  at  the  expense  of  '  speaking  deceitfully  for  God,' — that 
most  men  '  perish ; '  and  by  this  they  mean  that  most  men  pass 
after  death  'into  a  life  of  endless  torments.'  They  have  not 
only  held  this,  but  further,  —  that  the  vast  majority  of  Christians 
also  pass  after  death  into  endless  torments."  {Mercy  and  Judg- 
ment^ p.  140.) 

THE    MILLENNIAL    HOPE. 

Another  attempted  mitigation  is  the  millennial  hope. 
This  has  been  a  source  of  consolation  to  many.  It  is  the 
faith  that  ultimately  tlie  whole  world  will  be  converted ; 
and,  when  all  are  gathered  in,  "  the  number  of  the  lost 
will  be  inconsiderable  as  compared  with  the  whole  num- 
ber of  the  saved." 

Thus  the  late  Dr.  Charles  Hodge  says,  in  his  Commen- 
tary on  Romans  v.  20  :  — 

"  Since  the  half  of  mankind  die  in  infancy,  and,  according 
to  the  Protestant  doctrine,  are  heirs  of  salvation;  and  since,  in 
the  future  state  of  the  Church,  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  is  to 
cover  the  earth,  —  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  lost  shall 
bear  to  the  saved  no  greater  proportion  than  the  inmates  of  a 
prison  do  to  the  mass  of  the  community." 

Rev.  Albert  Barnes,  whose  pathetic  admission  we  have 
published  in  a  preceding  chapter,  found  comfort  in  the 
same  view,  which  may  be  found  in  his  Commentary  on 
Isaiah  liii.  11  :  — 

*'  It  is  morally  certain  that  a  large  portion  of  the  race,  taken 
as  a  whole,  will  enter  into  heaven.  Hitherto  the  number  has  been 
small.     The  great  mass  have  rejected  him.  and  have  been  lost.     But 


100  THE    DOOM    OF   THE 

theie  are  brighter  times  before  the  church  and  the  world.  The 
pure  gospel  of  the  Redeemer  is  yet  to  spread  around  the  globe, 
and  it  is  yet  to  become,  and  to  be  for  ages,  the  religion  of  the 
world.  Age  after  age  is  to  roll  on  when  all  shall  know  him  and 
obey  him;  and  in  those  future  times,  what  immense  multitudes 
shall  enter  into  heaven.  So  that  it  may  yet  be  seen,  that  the 
number  of  those  who  will  be  lost  from  the  whole  human  family, 
compared  with  those  who  will  be  saved,  will  be  no  greater  in 
proportion  than  the  criminals  in  a  well-organized  community 
who  are  imprisoned  are,  compared  with  the  number  of  obedient, 
virtuous,  and  peaceful  citizens." 

This  is  the  single  ray  of  light  on  this  subject  that  seemed 
to  come  to  Dr.  Barnes.  It  is  a  new  evidence  of  the  depth 
of  the  darkness  which  oppressed  him,  when  he  was  forced 
to  take  comfort  in  this  millennial  device.  In  a  recent  arti- 
cle in  the  Christian  Intelligencer,^  Rev.  William  Rankin 
Duryee,  D.D.,  presents  this  same  hope.  Rev.  S.  W. 
Boardman,  D.D.,  in  a  letter  to  the  writer,  says :  — 

"It  is  undonhteflly  the  opinion  of  most  Orthodox  Christians 
that  the  great  majority  of  the  human  race,  who  have  as  yet  died  in 
mature  years,  are  lost,  but  their  hope  is  that  when  the  whole 
race  shall  have  been  brought  into  existence,  and  human  history 
on  earth  be  completed,  the  great  majority  of  all  will  have  been 
saved." 

It  is  to  be  noted,  in  the  first  place,  that  this  is  an  individ- 
ual opinion.  It  is  not  supported  by  the  Church  creeds ;  and 
those  who,  like  Dr.  Withrow,  insist  that  their  orthodoxy- 
shall  be  interpreted  only  throus^h  the  standards,  cannot 
consistently  appeal  to  it.  Dr.  Schaff  says  that  this  opinion 
—  that  the  number  of  those  who  are  ultimately  lost  is  very 
inconsiderable  as  compared  with  the  whole  number  of  the 
saved  —  "would  be  preposterous  in  the  Augustinian  nnd 
Roman  Catholic  systems."  We  may  add  with  confidence, 
that  it  would  be  equally  preposterous  in  the  Calvin istic 
system.      The   straits   to   which   that   system   has   been 

1  '*  Quantity  in  Salvation,"  Christian  Intelligencer,  Feb.  14,  18b3. 


MAJORITY   OF   MANKIND.  101 

driven  by  Arminianisra  are  illustrated  in  this  curious 
attempt  to  escape  from  one  of  the  logical  consequences 
of  Calvinism. 

But  let  us  examine  the  implications  of  this  millennial 
device,  and  see  how  much  relief  it  really  affords. 

In  the  first  place  it  concedes  that,  up  to  tlie  present 
time  at  least,  and  until  some  remote  future,  the  doctrine 
we  arraign  is  true.  This  concession  is  not  merely  left  to 
be  inferred.  Dr.  Barnes  and  Dr.  Boardman,  with  the 
score  of  authorities  previously  quoted,  directly  express  it. 
"  Hitherto,"  says  Dr.  Barnes,  "the  number  has  been  small. 
The  great  mass  have  rejected  him  and  been  lost."  The 
hope  is  entertained  that  at  some  future  time  the  propor- 
tions may  be  reversed.  This  hope  for  the  future  does 
nothing  to  relieve  the  terrible  blackness  of  the  present 
and  the  past.  It  does  not  relieve  the  condition  of  the 
vast  majority  who  have  thus  far  been  damned ;  it  does 
not  relieve  of  its  blackness  the  character  of  the  God  who 
has  been  guilty  of  damning  them.  Though  it  alters  the 
proportion,  it  does  not  lessen  in  any  degree  the  absolute 
number  of  the  lost.  That  number  is  still  left  so  great  as 
to  be  positively  inconceivable.  In  his  sermon  before  the 
American  Board,  Rev.  Dr.  Skinner,  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  calculated  that  the  heathen  had  been  passing  to 
their  eternal  destiny,  strangers  to  the  influence  of  God's 
recovering  grace,  at  the  rate  of  20,000,000  a  year.  20,000,- 
000  a  year  is  a  small  estimate  of  the  number  of  those 
heathen  who  have  died  without  accepting  the  gospel  ; 
but,  even  at  this  rate,  the  accumulation  is  frightful. 
20,000,000,  multiplied  by  1882,  gives  a  total  of  37,640,000,- 
000  souls  in  hell  since  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era 
alone.  Of  the  millions  who  were  damned  before  it,  Dr. 
Skinner  makes  no  estimate.  How  long  it  will  be  before 
the  whole  world  is  converted  we  cannot  tell ;  but,  at  the 
present  slow  rate  of  progress,  it  must  take  thousands  of 
years,  and  the  American  Board  estimates  that  500,000,000 


102  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

lieathen  go  to  hell  every  thirty  years.  Confining  ourselves, 
however,  simply  to  the  Christian  era,  we  have  Dr.  Skin- 
ner's authority  for  saying  that,  at  the  present  date,  there 
are  37,640,000,000  souls  in  the  prison  hell  of  which  Dr. 
Hodge  speaks,  and  tliey  are  all  doomed  to  everlasting 
woe! 

The  prospect  that  the  entire  world  will  be  converted  to 
Orthodox  Christianity  seems  at  present  very  remote.  So 
long  as  it  preaches  such  doctrines  as  this,  we  cannot  be 
sorry  at  the  delay.  "  We  hear  much,"  said  Dr.  Channing, 
"  of  efforts  to  spread  the  gospel ;  but  Christianity  is  gain- 
ing more  by  the  removal  of  degrading  errors,  than  it  would 
by  armies  of  missionaries  who  should  carry  with  them  a 
corrupted  form  of  the  religion."  ^  Nevertheless,  accord- 
ing to  the  common  Orthodox  view,  every  year  of  delay 
adds  "  twenty  millions  a  year  "  to  the  number  of  heathen 
in  hell !  Rev.  Gordon  Hall,  a  missionary  in  1812,  supposed 
a  hundred  years  —  "a  longer  time,"  he  said,  "than  is  al- 
lowed by  the  ablest  commentators  "  —  would  pass  away 
before  the  introduction  of  the  millennium.  And  then,  in 
making  an  appeal  to  the  churches,  he  added  this  signifi- 
cant question.  "But  what  must  become  of  the  souls  who 
are  to  appear  on  the  earth  between  this  and  the  millen- 
niwnf  To  this  momentous  question  Orthodoxy  answers, 
.  The  vast  majority  are  doomed  to  endless  woe^  And  Dr. 
Barnes  and  Dr.  Hodge  add  a  tearful  "Amen." 

All  the  comfort,  therefore,  that  can  be  extracted  from 
this  millennial  hope,  is  the  thought  that  God's  government, 
and  the  scheme  of  redemption,  is  not  such  a  practical  fail- 
ure as  it  seems  to  be,  on  the  supposition  that  only  a  small 
fraction  of  the  human  family  will  enjoy  its  blessings. 
The  harvest  of  saved  souls,  it  assumes,  is  larger  than  the 
lost,  and  therefore  the  divine  husbandry  is  vindicated. 
The  vindication  is  only  numerical.    It  is  not  moral.     The 

1  "  Moral  Argument  against  Calvinism."  Works  (new  edition), 
p.  468. 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  103 

fact  still  remains,  according  to  Orthodoxy,  that  millions  — 
yea,  billions  on  billions  —  of  lost  souls  have  been  consigned 
to  eternal  damnation  ;  the  fact  still  remains  that  there  are 
"twenty  million  souls"  going  to  hell  every  year.  God's 
moral  government  cannot  be  vindicated  by  a  system  which 
confines  the  blessings  of  salvation  to  a  hypothetical  multi- 
tude, in  a  remotely  future  era,  while  the  vast  majority  of 
those  who  have  lived  for  nineteen  centuries  on  the  globe 
are  forever  lost.  This  palliation  is  but  another  form  of 
the  Calvinistic  doctrine  of  election.  God  chooses  the  mil- 
lennial age  to  display  his  glory,  and  saves  the  nations  in 
bulk ;  he  reprobates  all  preceding  ages,  except  the  small 
renmant  of  elected  individuals  that  are  saved  from  the 
great  mass.  God  becomes  generous,  merciful,  and  kind 
in  the  millennial  age  ;  but  in  all  preceding  ages  he  is  un- 
merciful and  unkind,  —  a  Shylock  sticking  to  the  bond, 
clamoring  for  the  covenanted  pound  of  flesh,  and  willing 
to  take  it  not  only  from  Antonio,  —  Adam, —  but  from  all 
his  descendants. 

Dr.  William  Rankin  Duryee,  although  urging  this  mil- 
lennial mitigation,  is  not  without  a  natural  suspicion  of  its 
insufficiency.     He  says  :  ^  — 

"  If  the  men  who  cherish  infidel  or  restorationist  doctrine  still 
afl&rm  that  even  such  hopeful  probabilities  do  not  relieve  the 
subject  of  its  sorrowful  darkness,  the  believer  throws  the  whole 
matter  on  God,  and  will  not  exhaust  his  strength  in  vain  ques- 
tionings or  vainer  feelings.  The  Bible  says  there  is  some  sin 
from  which  is  no  redemption.  As  far  as  sentiment  goes,  one 
soul  eternally  lost  is  as  painful  to  contemplate  as  ten  millions  of 
souls.  And  the  sentiment,  which  sorrows  over  what  God  reveals 
as  His  own  will,  is  simply  maudlin." 

In  his  distrust  and  condemnation  of  the  sentiments. 
Dr.  Duryee  showed  himself  a  Calvinist  of  the  old-time 
school.  It  has  been  the  reproach  of  Calvinism  that  it 
has  dishonored  the  sentiments,  especially  the  sentiments 

1  Christian  Intelligencer,  February,  1883. 


104  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

of  mercy  and  love,  which  are  most  outraged  by  this  doc- 
trine. And  now  with  this  horrible  spectacle  of  millions 
of  doomed  souls  before  us,  we  are  coolly  told  that  "the 
sentiment,  which  sorrows  over  what  God  reveals  as  his 
own  will,  is  simply  maudlin  !  "  This  was  the  reproachful 
sentimentality  that  Jesus  showed  when  he  mourned  over 
Jerusalem,  and  when  he  pathetically  wept  at  the  tomb  of 
Lazarus.  What  maudlin  sentiment  that  David  should 
sorrow  for  Absalom ;  or  that  Paul,  yearning  over  Israel, 
should  be  willing  to  be  accursed  for  his  brethren  and 
kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh  ! 

The  remarkable  confession  of  Dr.  Barnes,  which  we 
print  in  the  preceding  chapter,  furnishes  one  type  of 
modern  Calvinism,  that  which  reveals  the  power,  depth, 
and  authority  of  the  sentiments.  Dr.  Duryee's  article 
shows  another  type,  that  which  suppresses  or  ignores 
them.  If  the  latter  type  has  the  impassivity  of  stoicism, 
the  first  has  the  virtue  of  being  humane. 

The  ease  with  which  Dr.  Duryee  quenches  the  senti- 
ments, and  disposes  of  the  mistaken  compassion  to  which 
the  human  heart  is  prone  at  spectacles  of  woe,  is  seen  still 
further  in  the  following  passage :  — 

"  All  kinds  of  compassion  are  not  the  types  of  the  Divine 
compassion.  There  is  a  sympathy  with  sin  which  may  easily  be 
mistaken  for  sympathy  with  sorrow.  There  is  a  sympathy  with 
those  whose  punishment  is  deserved,  which  God  and  just  men 
alike  despise.  When  the  Christian  finds  out  at  last  who  are  in 
the  regions  of  despair,  and  what  they  are  there  meeting,  we  are 
very  sure  he  will  neVher  he  affected  hy  the  number^  nor  by  the  dura- 
tion of  their  punishment.''^ 

Those  Christians  who  have  not  entirely  lost  the 
"maudlin"  sentiments  of  mercy  and  love  will  not  need 
any  refutation  of  this  passage.  Believing,  as  they  do, 
that  the  sympathy  which  arises  from  these  sentiments  is 
never  despicable,  and  that  a  condemnation  of  sin  is  quite 
compatible  with  a  sympathy  for  the  sinner,  they  will  be 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  106 

more  concerned  to  ask  what  apology  can  be  made  for  Dr. 
Duryee,  for  making  in  the  year  1883  such  extraordinary 
statements.  Dr.  Duryeo  would  probably  scorn  any  such 
service,  and  thus  make  the  need  of  an  apology  only  more 
apparent. 

In  defence  of  his  position  it  may  be  said  that  the  indif- 
ference of  Christians  in  this  life  to  the  eternal  woe  of  the 
heathen,  when  they  have  some  power  to  prevent  it,  may 
furnish  reason  for  the  inference  that  Christians  in  heaven 
will  be  much  more  indifferent  to  such  misery  when  they 
have  no  power  to  arrest  it.  B'lt  the  indifference  of 
Christians  in  this  life  is  not  a  virtue.  We  agree  with  Dr. 
Skinner,  Mr.  Pond,^  Bishop  Colenso,  and  a  host  of  other 
missionaries,  that  it  is  only  a  reproach  if  the  doctrine  be 
true.  We  take  it  as  ai»  evidence,  however,  that  the 
doctrine  is  not  true,  since  it  is  not  possible  for  humanity 
to  act  as  if  it  were  true. 

Another  apology  —  not  wholly  sufficient,  we  grant  — 
for  Dr.  Duryee's  statement  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
it  is  not  new.  Jonathan  Edwards,  Nathanael  Emmons, 
Andrew  Welwood,  and  others  have  presented  its  grate- 
ful and  benumbing  consolations  to  the  saints  with  equal 
positiveness,  and  with  more  enthusiasm  and  power. 

Dr.  Emmons  has  told  us  that  "  We  know  that  one  part 
of  the  business  of  the  blessed  is  to  celebrate  the  doctrine 
of  reprobation."  ^ 

Jonathan  Edwards  considered  the  subject  of  so  much 
importance  that  he  devoted  an  entire  sermon  to  its  devel- 
opment. The  sermon  bears  this  comforting  title :  "  The 
End  of  the  Wicked  Contemplated  by  the  Eighteous ;  or, 
the  Torments  of  the  Wicked  in  Hell  no  Occasion  of  Grief 
to  the  Saints  in  Heaven."  In  this  sermon  Edwards  first 
depicts  the  horrors  of  hell:  — 

1  See  his  admission  quoted  in  the  previous  chapter,  p.  94. 

2  Works,  vol.  ii.  p.  402. 


106  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

*'  The  miseries  of  the  damned  in  hell  will  be  inconceivably 
great.  When  they  shall  come  to  bear  the  wrath  of  the  Almighty 
poured  out  upon  them  without  mixture,  and  executed  upon  them 
without  pity  or  restraint,  or  any  mitigation;  it  will  doubtless 
cause  anguish  and  horror  and  amazement,  vastly  beyond  all  the 
suiferings  and  torments  that  ever  any  man  endured  in  this 
world;  yea,  beyond  all  extent  of  our  words  or  thoughts." 
(Works,  vol.  iv.  p.  289,  Worcester  ed.) 

Then  he  shows  by  contrast  the  joy  of  the  saints  in 
glory  :  — 

' '  The  saints  in  glory  will  see  this  and  be  far  more  sensible  of 
it  than  now  we  can  possibly  be.  They  will  be  far  more  sensible 
how  dreadful  the  wrath  of  God  is,  and  will  better  understand 
how  terrible  the  sufferings  of  the  damned  are;  yet  this  will  be  no 
occasion  of  grief  to  them.  They  will  not  he  sorry  for  the  damned  ; 
it  will  cause  no  uneasiness  or  dissatisfaction  to  them ;  but  on  the 
contrary,  when  they  have  this  sight,  it  will  excite  them  to  joyful 
praises. 

*'  The  damned  and  their  misery,  their  sufferings  and  the 
wrath  of  God  poured  out  upon  them,  will  be  an  occasion  of  joy 
to  them.  ..."     (p.  290.) 

To  make  the  application  of  the  sermon  more  effective, 
Edwards  paints  a  fearful  picture  of  the  separations  that 
must  take  place  at  the  last  day  :  — 

"  How  will  you  bear  to  see  your  parents,  who  in  this  life  had 
so  dear  an  affection  for  you,  now  without  any  love  to  you, 
approving  the  sentence  of  condemnation,  when  Christ  shall  with 
indignation  bid  you  depart,  wretched,  cursed  creatures  into 
eternal  burnings  ?  How  will  you  bear  to  see  and  hear  them 
praising  the  Judge,  for  his  justice  exercised  in  pronouncing  this 
sentence,  and  hearing  it  with  holy  joy  in  their  countenances, 
and  shouting  forth  the  praises  and  hallelujahs  of  God  and 
Christ  on  that  account? 

"When  they  shall  see  what  manife-tations  of  amazement 
there  will  be  in  you  at  the  hearing  of  this  dreadful  sentence, 
and  that  every  syllable  of  it  pierces  you  like  a  thunderbolt,  and 
sinks  you  into  the  lowest  depths  of  horror  and  despair  ;  when 
they  shall   behold  you  with  a  frighted,  amazed  countenance, 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  107 

trembling  and  astonished,  and  shall  hear  you  groan  and  gnash 
your  teeth  ;  these  things  will  not  move  them  at  all  to  pity  you, 
but  you  will  see  them  with  a  holy  joyfulness  in  their  counte- 
nances, and  with  songs  in  their  mouths.  When  they  shall  see 
you  turned  away  and  beginning  to  enter  into  the  great  furnace, 
and  shall  see  how  you  shrink  at  it,  and  hear  how  you  shriek  and 
cry  out  ;  yet  they  will  not  be  at  all  grieved  for  you,  but  at  the 
same  time  you  will  hear  from  them  renewed  praises  and  halle- 
lujahs for  the  true  and  righteous  judgments  of  God  in  so  dealing 
with  you."     (p.  296.) 

"  As  to  those  who  are  damned  in  hell,  the  saints  in  glory  are 
not  concerned  for  their  welfare,  and  have  no  love  nor  pity  towards 
them;  and  if  you  perish  hereafter,  it  will  be  an  occasion  of  joy 
to  all  the  godly."     (p.  297.) 

In  another  discourse  Edwards  represents  the  happiness 
of  the  saints  as  greatly  heightened  by  the  contemplation  of 
the  eternal  misery  of  the  lost :  — 

*'The  sight  of  hell  torments  will  exalt  the  happiness  of  the 
saints  for  ever.  It  Will  not  only  make  them  more  sensible  of 
the  greatness  and  freeness  of  the  gi-ace  of  God  in  their  happi- 
ness; but  it  will  really  make  their  happiness  the  greater,  as  it 
will  make  them  more  sensible  of  their  own  happiness ;  it  will 
give  them  a  more  lively  relish  of  it ;  it  will  make  them  prize  it 
more.  When  they  see  others,  who  were  of  the  same  nature,  and 
born  under  the  same  circumstances,  plunged  in  such  misery, 
and  they  so  distinguished,  O,  it  will  make  them  sensible  how 
happy  they  are.  A  sense  of  the  opposite  misery,  in  all  cases, 
greatly  increases  the  relish  of  any  joy  or  pleasure."  (Sermon 
on  the  Eternity  of  Hell  Torments.     Works,  vol.  iv.  p.  276.) 

In  his  rhapsodical  book  entitled,  "  Meditations  repre- 
senting a  Glimpse  of  Glory :  or,  A  Gospel-Discovery  of 
Emmanuel's  Land,"  ^  Andrew  Welwood,  a  Scotch  layman, 
vividly  describes  the  joys  of  the  saints  in  witnessing  the 
tortures  of  the  damned  :  — 

1  The  date  of  the  first  edition  we  do  not  know.  An  American 
reprint  was  made  in  1744 ;  and  editions  were  published  in  Pittsburg 
in  1824  and  in  London  in  1839.  It  has  undoubtedly  been  a  very 
popular  book. 


108  THE   DOOM    OF    THE 

*'  What  joy!  to  behold  Truth  vindicated  from  all  the  horrid 
Aspersions  of  Hellish  Monsters.  I  'm  overjoyed  in  hearing  the 
everlasting  Howliugs  of  the  Haters  of  the  Almighty ;  what  a 
pleasant  Melody  are  they  in  mine  Ears?  O  eternal  Hallelujahs 
to  Jehovah  and  the  Lamb  I  O  sweet!  sweet!  My  Heart  is 
satisfied.  We  committed  our  Cause  to  thee,  that  judgeth  right- 
eously; and  behold,  thou  hast  fully  pleaded  our  Cause,  and  shalt 
make  the  Smoke  of  their  Torment  for  ever  and  ever  to  ascend 
in  our  Sight."     (p.  107,  ed.  1744.) 

Again  the  rapturous  author  says :  — 

"  The  beholding  of  the  smoke  of  your  torments  is  a  passing 
delectation.'"     (p.  109.) 

That  this  doctrine  which  Welwood  assisted  to  popu- 
larize in  England  is  not  wholly  extinct  there  is  shown  by 
the  testimony  of  Dr.  Momerie,  embodied  in  the  following 
paragraph   from    the    London   Inquirer   of   March    10, 

1883:  — 

"  We  are  sometimes  told  that  the  hideous  doctrine  of  Eternal 
Torment  is  dying  out,  at  least  in  its  more  repulsive  aspects. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Momerie,  Professor  of  Logic  and  Metaphysics  in 
King's  College,  London,  and  one  of  the  Select  Preachers  before 
the  University  of  Cambridge,  gives  unimpeachable  testimony 
that  we  are  apt  to  overrate  the  progress  of  liberal  sentiments  in 
other  churches.  In  his  recent  work  on  '  The  Basis  of  Religion ' 
he  says  that  only  a  year  or  two  ago  he  heard  a  clergyman  deliver 
himself  from  the  pulpit  as  follows:  'My  brethren,  you  may 
imagine  that  when  you  look  down  from  heaven,  and  see  your 
acquaintances  and  friends  and  relatives  in  hell,  your  happiness 
will  be  somewhat  marred.  But  no!  You  will  then  be  so  puri- 
fied and  perfected  that,  as  you  gaze  on  that  sea  of  suffering,  it 
will  only  increase  your  joy.'  For  our  part,  we  should  prefer  hell 
itself  to  a  heaven  where  such  hellish  joy  would  be  possible." 

Unfortunately  for  the  progress  of  liberal  ideas  we  can- 
not affirm,  as  we  should  be  happy  to  do,  that  this  view 
of  the  indifference  of  the  saints  in  heaven  to  the  tor- 
tures of  the  damned  in  hell  is  obsolete  in  this  country. 
Dr.    Duryee  has  revived  it  anew,   and  presents   it  as  a 


MAJORITY    OF    MAXKIXD.  109 

merciful  mitigation  of  tliis  doctrine  of  the  doom  of  the 
majority.  But  it  is  a  mitigation  which  does  not  mitigate. 
It  does  not  relieve  the  damned,  but  only  the  elect.  At 
the  best  it  is  a  seltish  view.  The  saints  are  fearful  lest 
their  happiness  in  heaven  should  be  disturbed  by  the 
proximity  of  hell.  "  No,"  says  Dr.  Duryee,  "  when  the 
Christian  finds  out  at  last  who  are  in  the  regions  of  de- 
spair [parents  or  children,  brothers  or  sisters,  wives, 
mothers,  or  friends  we  have  loved  on  earth],  and  what 
they  are  there  meeting  [tortures  so  horrible  that  no 
tongue  can  describe  them,  and  so  lasting  that  eternity 
cannot  exhaust  them],  we  are  very  sure  he  will  neither 
be  affected  by  the  number^  nor  by  the  duration  of  their 
punishment.^'' 

Whatever  the  effect  of  Dr.  Duryee's  attempted  apology 
may  be  upon  the  school  of  Calvinists  to  which  he  belongs, 
we  rejoice  to  believe  that  there  are  a  vast  number  of 
Christians  who  still  retain  a  sufficient  amount  of  human- 
ity to  feel  that  this  attempted  mitigation  only  adds  a 
new  horror  to  those  it  seeks  to  relieve.  It  is  the  doctrine 
of  annihilation  applied  to  heaven  instead  of  to  hell  —  the 
annihilation  of  the  sentiments  of  mercy  and  benevolence. 
The  wicked  are  allowed  to  retain  these  sentiments  in  hell ; 
Dives  is  represented  as  exercising  them ;  but  for  the 
comfort  of  the  saints  they  are  extinguished  in  heaven. 
This  view  of  heaven  makes  it,  morally  considered,  several 
degrees  lower  than  hell. 

PROBATION   AFTER   DEATH. 

Whatever  comfort  the  doctrine  of  the  annihilation  of 
the  sentiments  may  afford  to  ransomed  or  expectant 
saints,  it  does  not  relieve  the  character  of  God  of  the 
reproach  of  partiality  and  injustice.  Dr.  Schaff,  after 
admitting  the  objections,  adds :  — 

"  The  only  solution  seems  to  lie  either  in  the  Quaker 
doctrine  of  universal  light  —  that  is,  an  uncovenanted  offer  of 


110  THE   DOOM   OF    THE 

salvation  to  all  men  in  this  earthly  life  —  or  an  extension  of  the 
period  of  saving  grace  beyond  death  till  the  final  judgment  for 
those  (and  for  those  only)  who  never  had  an  opportunity  in  this 
world  to  accept  or  reject  the  gospel  salvation.  But  the  former 
view  implies  a  depreciation  of  the  visible  Church,  the  ministiy 
of  the  gospel,  and  the  sacraments.  The  latter  would  require  a 
liberal  reconstruction  of  the  traditional  doctrine  of  the  middle 
state,  such  as  no  Orthodox  church — in  the  absence  of  clear  Scrip- 
ture light  on  this  mysterious  subject,  and  in  view  of  probable 
abuse  —  would  be  willing  to  admit  in  its  confessional  teaching, 
even  if  theological  exegesis  should  be  able  to  produce  a  better 
agreement  than  now  exists  on  certain  disputed  passages  of  the 
New  Testament  and  the  doctrine  of  Hades."  (Creeds  of 
Christendom,  vol.  i.  p.  793.) 

Of  these  solutions,  that  of  probation  after  death  is  being 
earnestly  presented  by  the  more  liberal  section  of  the 
Orthodox  body.  The  active  discussion  that  has  been  held 
has  revealed  the  fact  that  there  is  a  growing  number  who 
find  relief  in  the  thought  that  those  who  do  not  have  an 
opportunity  to  receive  the  gospel  here,  may  have  it  ofifered 
to  them  hereafter.  This  view,  if  generally  accepted, 
would  not  relieve  the  subject  of  its  darkest  and  worst 
feature;  but  it  would  certainly  lessen  its  horror.  It 
assumes  that  every  one  must  have  an  opportunity  to 
receive  the  gospel  before  he  can  justly  be  punished  for 
rejecting  it.  It  does  not  deny  the  dogma  of  endless 
misery;  but  it  refuses  to  confine  to  this  life  the  pro- 
bation which  human  souls  are  supposed  to  undergo.  It 
thus  relieves  the  character  of  God  of  the  charge  of 
damning  the  heathen  and  all  others  who  die  in  ignorance 
of  the  gospel.  It  throws  some  rays  of  divine  mercy 
across  the  grave.  It  is  a  reaction  against  the  severity  of 
Calvinism.  Arminianism  has  less  need  of  this  mitigation, 
because  it  commits  to  the  divine  mercy  and  judgment 
those  whom  the  gospel  has  not  reached.  On  the  other 
hand,  this  theory  of  probation  after  death  is  an  improve- 
ment on  the  assumption  held  alike  by   Arminians  and 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  Ill 

Calvinists,  that  the  destiny  of  the  soul  is  fixed  at  death 
for  all  eternity. 

The  movement  in  favor  of  this  doctrine  is  strongest  in 
the  Congregational  body.  Rev.  Newman  Smyth,  D.D., 
of  New  Haven,  and  Professor  Egbert  Smyth  of  Andover, 
have  been  prominently  before  the  public  as  its  defenders. 
Mr.  Joseph  Cook,  Professor  Park,  Dr.  Goodwin,  and  many 
others  have  assailed  it.  The  prolonged  discussion  it  has 
received  has  helped  to  make  the  doctrine  familiar  and 
tolerable  to  many  people ;  but  it  cannot  be  said  to  have 
received  any  general  acceptance.  The  liberal  element  in 
the  Congregational  body  is  making  a  brave  fight  to  estab- 
lish it.  As  a  more  merciful  view  of  the  divine  govern- 
ment, its  general  adoption  would  be  a  grateful  sign  of 
progress.  It  is  founded  on  noble  conceptions  of  the 
divine  justice  and  mercy.  Once  let  such  conceptions 
have  full  freedom,  and  the  dogma  of  endless  punishment 
will  eventually  be  carried  away  like  a  rotten  pier  before 
a  spring  flood. 

But  while  welcoming  any  extension  of  the  sentiments 
of  justice  and  mercy  to  theological  discussions,  we  believe 
it  is  safest  to  found  them  on  correct  premises  and  to  extend 
them  on  right  lines.  It  is  an  essential  defect  of  the  move- 
ment in  favor  of  probation  after  death,  that  it  accepts 
most  of  the  false  premises  on  which  Orthodoxy  is  built,  — 
man's  ruined  nature,  the  necessity  of  an  atonement,  and 
the  certainty  of  endless  punishment  for  those  who  reject 
the  gospel.  We  do  not  believe  that  any  permanent  relief 
can  be  obtained  so  long  as  these  premises  are  admitted. 
Nor  can  we  agree  that  this  life,  or  any  limited  period  in  the 
next,  is  to  be  considered  as  a  state  of  probation.  Life  is 
not  a  probation;  it  is  a  discipline,  a  school  for  character, 
a  field  for  growth. 

The  only  satisfaction,  therefore,  that  we  have  in  observ- 
ing the  growth  of  the  doctrine  of  probation  after  death, 
is  in  the  hope  kindled  that  it  may  lead  to  something 
better. 


112  THE    DOOM    OF   THE 


THE    ESSENTIAL    CHRIST. 


Mr.  Joseph  Cook,  having  undertaken  in  his  Monday 
Lectures  to  attack  "  Probation  after  Death,"  attempted  to 
show  that  the  Orthodox  view  of  God's  dealing  with  tlie 
heathen  did  not  require  this  exjDedient.  "  God  is  imma- 
nent in  the  moral  nature  of  every  man,"  says  Mr.  Cook, 
"and  whoever  permanently  accepts  or  rejects  the  inner- 
most voice  of  conscience,  accepts  or  rejects  the  essential 
Christ."  This  sounds  very  liberal  and  very  plausible.  It 
is  precisely  what  Unitarians  and  other  liberals  have  main- 
tained for  years.  Paul  stated  it  much  better  than  Mr. 
Cook,  without  the  possible  confusion  which  may  come 
from  the  terra  essential  Christ.  "God  [who]  will  render 
to  every  man  according  to  his  deeds :  .  .  .  tribulation 
and  anguish  upon  every  soul  of  man  that  doeth  evil,  .  .  . 
but  glory,  honor,  and  peace  to  every  man  that  worketh 
good."  This  is  sound  doctrine,  and  at  the  outset  Mr. 
Cook  seems  to  believe  in  it.  To  save  his  Orthodoxy, 
however,  which  would  be  practically  destroyed  by  such  an 
admission,  he  makes  the  following  qualification  :  "  Human 
nature  is  such,  however,  that  only  2i.few  among  millions 
do  accept  the  essential  Christ  of  conscience.  A  knowledge 
of  the  character,  life,  and  death  of  the  historic  Christ  must 
therefore  be  carried  to  the  heathen  and  to  the  whole 
world."  We  do  not  wonder  that  the  Independent  was 
"startled"  at  this  statement;  we  wonder  that  Mr.  Cook 
was  not  startled  by  it  himself.  He  has  unwittingly  drawn 
up  an  indictment,  not  against  the  heathen,  but  against 
the  God  who  made  them.  If  God  has  so  constructed 
human  nature  that  it  cannot  obey  the  laws  of  life  he  has 
prescribed  for  it,  then  the  divine  wisdom  and  goodness 
are  at  once  impeached.  In  casting  into  the  bottomless  pit 
the  clay  which  he  has  tried  to  form  in  his  own  image,  the 
Divine  Potter  simply  shows  the  failure  of  his  own  handi- 
work. Mr.  Cook  opens  the  door  to  the  heathen,  only  to 
slam  it  in  their  faces  when  they  try  to  enter.     He  prac- 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  113 

tically  records  himself  as  one  who  believes  in  the  damna- 
tion of  the  majority.  The  "  fair  chance  "  he  offers  to  the 
heathen  to  get.  into  heaven  is  considerably  less  than  they 
would  have  of  reaching  the  opposite  shore  in  safety,  if 
required  individually  to  cross  Niagara  on  a  tight-rope. 


VI. 

Unmitigated  Features. 

The  palliations  we  have  considered  are  of  interest 
mainly  as  showing  the  need  that  is  felt  among  a  large 
class  for  some  relief  from  the  distressing  features  of  this 
doctrine.  None  of  them,  however,  furnish  a  relief  that 
is  adequate.  They  have  not  yet  been  accepted  by  Ortho- 
doxy. They  are  arguments  for  the  revision  of  the  historic 
creeds,  but  the  desired  revision  has  not  been  made. 
Merely  to  file  off  the  rough  edges  of  the  old  creeds  will 
not  suflSce.  The  objections  we  urge  are  not  merely  against 
Orthodox  standards,  but  against  the  Orthodox  system 
which  they  represent.  That  system,  as  it  is  now  held  and 
taught,  cannot  be  reconciled  with  the  justice,  goodness, 
and  mercy  of  God.  That  it  is  no  malice  which  prompts 
this  statement  may  be  seen  from  the  Evangelical  admis- 
sions, protests,  and  attempted  mitigations  which  we  have 
brought  together  in  the  two  preceding  chapters. 

These  objections  are  not  simply  metaphysical  or  logical ; 
they  are  above  all  things  ethical.  The  ethical  basis  on 
which  the  old  theology  was  constructed  is  one  which  has 
been  outgrown.  Civilization  and  society  have  advanced, 
but  theology  still  clings  to  its  mediaeval  God.  Nothing 
but  the  voice  of  authority,  urged  as  the  voice  of  God  him- 
self, is  able  to  support  a  theistic  conception  which  would 
otherwise  be  promptly  rejected  as  irrational  and  unjust. 
These  ethical  difficulties  are  not  confined  to  this  special 
dogma  J  they  belong  to  the  whole  theological  system  upon 

8 


114  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

which  it  is  built.  But  they  appear  conspicuously  in  two  or 
three  aspects  of  this  doctrine ;  namely,  in  the  relation 
which  God  is  supposed  to  hold  to  the  number,  the  character, 
and  the  state  of  the  doomed. 


1,    The  Number  of  the  Doomed, 

Orthodoxy  teaches  that  God  "passes  by"  the  far  larger 
portion  of  the  human  race  in  conferring  the  blessings  of 
salvation,  and  deliberately  remands  them  to  a  fate  from 
which  his  love  and  mercy  miglit  hav^e  saved  them.  We 
say  "passes  by,"  for  that  is  the  expression  used  in  the 
Westminster  Confession:  "God  was  pleased,  according  to 
the  unsearchable  counsel  of  his  own  will,  whereby  he 
extendeth  or  withholdeth  mercy  as  he  pleaseth,  for  the 
glory  of  his  sovereign  power  over  his  creatures,  to  pass 
by  the  rest  of  mankind,  and  to  ordain  them  to  dishonor 
and  wrath  for  their  sin,  to  the  praise  of  his  glorious  jus- 
tice." This  "  glorious  [?]  justice  "  operates  to  condemn  to 
death  the  great  majority  of  the  heathen  world,  without 
even  giving  them  a  chance  to  accept  the  gospel  which 
would  save  them.  As  one  of  the  most  prominent  of 
Orthodox  theologians.  Dr.  Philip  Schaff,  says,  in  a  pas- 
sage to  which  we  have  previously  referred :  — 

"  Evei-ybody  must  admit  that  the  vast  majority  of  mankind, 
no  worse  by  nature  than  the  rest,  and  without  personal  guilt, 
are  born,  and  grow  up  hi  heathen  darkness,  out  of  the  reach  of 
means  of  grace,  and  are  thus,  as  far  as  we  know,  actually 
'  passed  by  '  in  this  world.  No  Orthodox  system  can  logically 
reconcile  this  stubborn  and  awful  fact  with  the  universal  love  and 
impartial  justice  of  God.^^  {Creeds  of  Christendom,  vol.  i. 
p.  793.) 

Dr.  Channing,  in  considering  this  doctrine,  that  "the 
vastly  greater  portion  of  the  human  race  is  abandoned  by 
God,"  was  moved  to  earnest  remonstrance:  — 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  115 

"  It  is  the  doctrine  of  the  mass  of  Christians  even  now,  that 
the  heathen  are  the  objects  of  God's  wrath.  All  who  live  and 
die  beyond  the  sound  of  the  Gospel,  it  is  thought,  are  doomed 
to  endless  perdition.  On  this  ground  indeed  it  is  that  most 
missionary  enterprises  rest.  We  are  called  upon  to  send  the 
Gospel  where  it  is  not  preached,  because  men  conceive  that, 
beyond  the  borders  of  Christendom,  God  is  an  implacable  Judge; 
because  no  other  parts  of  the  earth  are  believed  to  hold  commu- 
nication with  heaven ;  because  it  is  feared  that  the  human  being, 
whose  fate  it  is  to  be  born  a  heathen,  carries  to  the  grave  an 
inherited  curse  that  will  never  be  repealed.  Well  do  I  remem- 
ber the  shock  once  received  from  reading  a  missionary  address, 
in  which  the  speaker  computed  the  thousands  of  the  heathen 
world  who  would  die  during  the  few  hours  of  the  meeting;  and 
he  asked  his  hearers  to  listen  in  thought  to  their  shrieks  as  they 
descended  into  hell.  But  how  can  a  sane  man  credit,  for  an 
instant,  that  the  vastly  greater  portion  of  the  human  race  is 
abandoned  by  God?  If  Christianity  did  actually  thus  represent 
the  character  of  God,  we  might  well  ask  what  right  we  have  to 
hold  or  to  diffuse  such  a  religion.  For  among  all  the  false  gods 
of  Heathenism,  can  one  be  found  more  unrighteous  and  more 
cruel  than  the  Deity  whom  such  a  system  offers  as  an  object  for 
our  worship  ?  But  the  Christian  Religion  noM'here  teaches  this 
horrible  faith.  And  still  more,  no  man  in  his  heart  does  or  can 
believe  such  an  appalling  doctrine.  Utter  it  in  words  men  may; 
but  human  nature  forbids  them  to  give  it  inward  assent.  Were 
the  Christians  who  profess  it  deliberately  to  consider  what  such 
a  doctrine  means,  and  bring  it  home  to  themselves  as  a  reality, 
—  could  they  distinctly  once  conceive  that  every  hour,  by  day 
and  night,  thousands  of  their  fellow-beings  are  plunged  by  the 
never-ceasing  anger  of  God  into  an  abyss  of  endless  woe,  — how 
could  they  endure  even  to  exist?  They  would  look  on  this  world 
as  a  hell,  and  long  to  escape  from  the  sway  of  its  merciless 
despot.  No!  The  human  heart  is  a  far  better  teacher  than 
these  gloomy  systems  of  theology.  In  its  secret  depth  it  believes, 
what  perhaps  it  dares  not  to  put  into  words,  in  God's  Impartial, 
Equitable,  Universal,  and  Parental  Love."  (^The  Universal 
Father,  Sec.  I.  4.) 

In  1837  the  New  School  Presbyterians  of  this  country, 


116  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

ill  the  so-called  Auburn  Declaration,  adopted  the  follow- 
ing article :  — 

"AVhile  repentance  for  sin  and  faith  in  Christ  are  indispensa- 
ble to  salvation,  all  who  are  saved  are  indebted,  from  first  to 
last,  to  the  grace  and  Spirit  of  God.  And  the  reason  that  God 
does  not  save  all  is  not  that  he  wants  the  power  to  do  it,  but  that 
in  his  wisdom  he  does  not  see  Jit  to  exert  that  power  further  than  he 
actually  does."    (Schaff's  Creeds  of  Christendom,  vol.  iii.  p.  779.) 

Channing  has  not  stated  more  strongly,  in  an  equal 
number  of  words,  the  moral  difficulties  of  Orthodoxy,  than 
they  are  stated  by  Dr.  Schaff  in  the  passage  above,  or 
than  they  are  unconsciously  revealed  in  the  Auburn 
Declaration.  How  can  we  believe  in  the  goodness  and 
mercy  and  justice  of  God,  and  yet  suppose  that  those  who 
have  had  no  opportunity  to  hear  the  gospel  are  to  be 
banished  to  eternal  night  ?  God  knows  their  condition  ; 
there  is  room  enough  in  heaven  for  them  all ;  he  can  save 
them  if  he  will  ;  it  is  not  possible,  says  Orthodoxy,  for 
them  to  be  saved  without  him.  Nevertheless  God 
passes  them  by  without  mercy,  and  surrenders  them  to 
an  endless  misery  to  which  he  alone  has  ordained  them. 

The  old  Calvinistic  doctrine  of  reprobation,  in  which 
Emmons  and  Edwards  delighted,  that  God  positively 
reprobated  to  death  those  whom  he  did  not  choose  to  save, 
is  not  held  so  sternly  by  modern  Calvinists.  They  are 
content*  to  say  that  God  chooses  some  to  salvation,  and 
passes  by  or  leaves  the  rest  in  the  ruin  in  which  the  fall 
of  Adam  has  plunged  them,  "  not  that  he  wants  the 
power  "  to  save  them,  "  but  that  in  his  wisdom  he  does  not 
see  fit  to  exert  that  power  further  than  he  actually  does." 
The  trouble  with  this  attempted  alleviation  is  that  it  softens 
the  will  of  God  without  softening  his  heart.  The  old 
Calvinistic  God  exerted  his  power;  he  cast  souls  into  hell. 
The  new  God  withholds  his  power,  and  they  slide  in  by 
themselves.  There  is  little  choice  between  such  descrip- 
tions of  God.      The  immoral  grandeur  of  the  first  can 


MAJORITY    OF    MANKIND.  117 

be  as  easily  defended  as  the  immoral  languor  of  the 
second. 

Is  this  the  result  of  the  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ  ?  Is 
this  a  fair  representation  of  his  view  of  the  Father? 
There  is  a  little  story  which  Jesus  himself  told,  which 
shows  how  he  would  have  regarded  this  view  of  God :  — 

"  A  certain  man  was  going  down  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho; 
and  he  fell  among  robbers,  who  stripped  him  and  beat  him,  and 
departed,  leaving  him  half  dead.  And  by  chance  a  certain  priest 
was  going  down  that  way;  and  when  he  saw  him,  he  passed  by  on 
the  other  side.  And  in  like  manner  a  Levite  also,  when  he 
came  to  the  place,  and  saw  him,  passed  by  on  the  other  side. 

"  But  a  certain  Samaritan,  as  he  journeyed,  came  where  he 
was  ;  and  when  he  saw  him  he  had  compassion  on  him,  and 
went  to  him  and  bound  up  his  wounds,  pouring  on  oil  and  wine; 
anJhesetljim  on  his  own  beast,  and  brought  him  to  an  inn,  and 
took  care  of  him.  And  the  next  day,  as  he  was  about  to  leave, 
he  took  money  from  his  purse  and  gave  it  to  the  host,  and  said; 
Take  care  of  him ;  and,  if  you  spend  any  more,  I  will  pay  you 
when  I  come  back. 

"  Which  of  these  three,  said  Jesus,  do  you  think  was 
neighbor  unto  him  that  fell  among  the  robbers? 

"  He  that  took  pity  on  him. 

*'  Then  said  Jesus,  Go  and  do  thou  likewise." 

Now  the  defect  of  the  Orthodox  theology  is  that, 
instead  of  deriving  its  ideal  of  God  from  the  Good  Samar- 
itan, it  has  taken  it  from  the  Priest  and  the  Levite. 
Humanity,  it  assumes,  has  fallen.  It  lies  wounded  and 
bleeding  by  the  roadside.  And  yet  the  Almighty,  the 
infinite  Father,  passes  hy  on  the  other  side.  He  sees 
his  child  groaning  before  his  eyes;  but,  although  it 
has  fallen  by  the  sin  of  another,  he  puts  forth  no  hand 
to  save  it.  What  words  could  express  human  indignation 
at  the  conduct  of  such  a  Father?  And  if  we  knew  that, 
by  the  cruel  neglect  of  this  unnatural  parent,  the  wounded 
child  was  left  to  be  torn  to  pieces  by  wild  beasts,  or  that 
he  was  captured  by  savage  tribes  and  subjected  to  months 


118  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

of  slow  torture  and  finally  death,  we  should  hold  the  father 
as  a  murderer,  and  remand  him  to  the  universal  execra- 
tion of  mankind. 

If  such  would  be  our  feelings  toward  an  earthly  parent, 
how  much  more  intensely  should  we  repudiate  all  views 
of  God  which  charge  him  with  a  neglect  more  culpable 
and  a  cruelty  more  intense.  Let  not  this  doctrine  of  the 
damnation  of  the  heathen  be  charged  upon  Jesus  Christ. 
The  tenth  of  Luke  and  the  fifth  of  Matthew  are  a  lasting 
rebuke  to  the  Westminster  Creed  and  all  who  hold  it.  If 
we  think  of  God  at  all,  we  must  think  of  him  not  as  being 
worse,  but  as  infinitely  better  than  humanity.  So  thought 
Jesus,  and  therefore  urged  men  to  be  like  unto  him :  — 

' '  Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  and  hate  .thine  enemy:  but  I  say  unto  you,  Love  your 
enemies,  bless  them  that  curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that  hate 
you,  and  pray  for  them  which  despitef uUy  use  you  and  persecute 
you,  that  ye  may  be  the  children  of  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven ;  for  he  maketli  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the 
good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust.  Be  ye 
therefore  perfect,  even  as  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  is 
perfect." 

2,    The  CJiaracter  of  the  Doomed. 

Another  remarkable  ethical  defect  of  this  doctrine 
is  that  it  represents  God  as  ignoring  profound  moral 
distinctions. 

1.  God  ignores  moral  distinctions  in  treating  the  inno- 
ceyit  as  if  they  were  guilty. 

The  astounding  statement  is  made  that  by  the  sin  of 
Adam  the  whole  race  partakes  not  only  of  the  conse- 
quences of  his  sin,  but  also  of  his  guilt.  Adam  was  the 
representative  of  the  race,  says  Calvinism ;  when  he  fell, 
the  race  fell  with  him.  Ev^ery  human  being  is  born  into 
the  world  steeped  in  original  sin  and  under  the  penalty 
of  eternal  death.     Even  the  innocent  babe,  dying  without 


MAJORITY    OP    MANKIND.  119 

any  consciousness  of  sin,  without,  in  fact,  consciousness  of 
its  own  existence,  cannot  be  saved  without  the  application 
of  the  atoning  blood  of  Christ  to  its  soul ;  and  according 
to  the  belief  of  Catholics  and  Lutherans  we  can  only  be 
sure  that  this  blood  has  been  applied  when  the  child  has 
been  sprinkled  with  water. 

We  object  to  this  view  that  it  is  merely  a  theological 
fiction,  —  that  it  is  not  true,  and  that  it  would  be  unjust  if 
it  were  true.  If  men  are  born  into  the  world  with  a 
nature  so  corrupt  that  they  cannot  obey  the  law  of  God, 
it  is  unjust  to  punish  them  for  its  violation.^  Guilt  can 
only  follow  where  there  is  sin ;  sin  is  only  possible  to 
creatures  that  have  moral  ability.  In  punishing  creatures 
that  are  only  theoretically  sinful,  God  would  show  himself 
to  be  only  theoretically  just.  The  assumption,  however, 
that  all  men  are  born  totally  depraved  we  assume  to  be 
false  to  begin  with.  It  is  contradicted  by  the  facts  of 
human  nature ;  it  is  contradicted  by  the  example  and  pre- 
cepts of  Jesus  Christ,  who  presented  the  humility  and 
purity  of  childhood  as  an  ideal  to  his  own  disciples  by 
which  they  were  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

Modern  Calvinists  and  Arminians,  believing  that  all 
dying  in  infancy  are  saved,  attribute  their  salvation  to 
the  atonement  of  Jesus.  But  such  a  view  is  unjust 
to  God.  It  supposes  that  God  regards  infants  as  guilty  of 
sin.  On  the  contra ly  we  affirm  that  children  are  not 
guilty  of  sin  until  they  are  able  to  commit  it,  and  that  if 
not  guilty  of  sin,  they  require  no  atonement  for  their 
salvation. 

2.  JBut  God  also  ignores  profound  moral  distinctions 
in  treating  the  guilty  as  if  they  were  innocent, 

1  Rev.  Dr.  D.  D.  Whedon,  editor  of  the  Methodist  Quarterly  Review, 
in  his  article  on  "  Arminianism "  in  Johnson's  Cydopcedia,  forcibly 
states  a  moral  and  logical  objection  to  Calvinism  "  If  a  man  is  to  be 
damned  for  fulfilling  God's  decrees,  ought  not  that  imaginary  God  to 
be  afuiiiori  damned  for  making  sucli  a  decree?  "     (Vol.  i.  p.  253  ) 


120  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

A  large  and  influential  part  of  Protestantism  has 
revolted  against  the  assumption  that  men  are  only  pun- 
ished for  the  guilt  of  Adam.  It  is  assumed  therefore  that 
all  men  actually  transgress  the  infinite  law,  and  are  thus 
liable  to  an  infinite  penalty.  The  degree  of  the  trans- 
gression is  not  important.  All  that  is  necessary  is  to 
commit  an  infinitesimal  sin,  to  incur  the  judicial  sentence 
of  eternal  torture.  That  all  men  sin  we  may  readily 
admit;  that  any  justly  deserve  infinite  punishment  for  a 
finite  sin  we  cannot  grant  for  a  moment.  The  object  of 
this  device  is  to  defend  the  justice  of  God  in  bestowing 
punishment  by  assuming  the  guilt  of  the  sinner.  If, 
however,  we  grant,  as  we  are  asked  to  do,  the  actual  as 
well  as  the  inherited  guilt  of  the  sinner,  we  find  that, 
although  God  may  observe  moral  distinctions  in  damning 
men,  yet  he  ignores  moral  distinctions  in  his  method  of 
saving  them.  The  saved  have  no  righteousness  of  their 
own.  They  are  polluted  and  corrupt  before  God.  Does 
the  divine  mercy  save  them?  No.  Orthodoxy  will  not 
allow  it  to  operate  here  where  its  blessing  is  so  much 
needed.  It  may  operate  in  the  choice  of  those  who  are 
saved,  but  not  in  the  method  of  their  salvation.  How 
then  are  the  guilty  saved  ?  Simply  because  God  agrees 
to  consider  them  righteous  on  account  of  the  righteous- 
ness of  his  Son.  They  are  not  actually  righteous ;  but 
righteousness  is  imputed  to  them. 

It  is  not  possible  to  transfer  righteousness  from  one 
moral  being  to  another.  If  a  man  incurs  debt  through 
immorality,  it  does  not  make  him  any  better,  any  more 
righteous,  if  a  friend  pays  the  debt  for  him.  We  cannot 
put  righteousness  on  or  off  as  if  it  were  a  garment. 
Judas  would  still  have  been  Judas,  if  he  had  worn  the 
robe  of  Jesus.  The  only  way  righteousness  can  be 
achieved  is  in  the  way  Jesus  achieved  it  himself,  through 
moral  experience.  God  therefore  ignores  moral  distinc- 
tions if  he  treats  the  guilty  as  if  they  were  innocent. 


^  MAJORITY    OF    MANKIND.  1'21 

3.  God  ignores  actual  moral  distinctions  in  choosing 
those  who  are  saved 

W'e  say  actual  distinctions.  We  mean  those  distinc- 
tions which  are  recognized  as  real  and  positive  in  this 
life.  We  know  that  these  distinctions  are  not  taken  as 
the  basis  for  Orthodox  theology.  Its  ethical  theories  are 
as  original  and  hyjjothetical  as  its  lacts.  The  distinction 
it  makes  between  a  "righteous  man"  and  a  "sinner"  is 
not  the  distinction  which  is  made  in  the  community; 
it  is  not  the  distinction  which  corresponds  to  character. 
We  do  not  mean  that  Orthodoxy  considers  good  charac- 
ter in  this  life  unimportant ;  far  from  it ;  but  it  assumes 
that  good  character  in  this  life  has  notliing  to  do  with 
obtaining  salvation  in  the  next.  Salvation  is  obtained 
only  through  the  merits  of  Christ's  blood.  Only  those 
are  saved  whom  God  has  chosen  to  this  privilege.  If  God 
chose  only  the  good  and  the  virtuous  and  the  noble  and 
the  benevolent,  we  might  infer  that  his  choice  was  made 
with  reference  to  some  moral  judgment.  But  according 
to  Orthodoxy  this  is  not  the  case.  The  most  abandoned 
sinner  is  chosen  as  readily  as  the  saint.  Let  the  sinner 
but  repent  an  hour  before  his  death,  and  express  belief  in 
the  atonement  of  Jesus,  and  he  is  saved.  The  man,  how- 
ever, who  has  lived  an  irreproachable  life,  who  has 
endeavored  to  observe  the  Golden  Rule  and  the  two  great 
commandments,  who  has  tried  to  obey  his  own  conscience, 
to  do  justly,  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  God, 
—  such  a  man,  if  he  does  not  accept  the  Orthodox  "  plan 
of  salvation,"  is  hopelessly  lost. 

Mr.  Spurgeon,  in  his  commentary  on  Psalm  ix.  17, 
"The  wicked  shall  be  turned  into  hell,  and  all  the  nations 
that  forget  God,"  thus  expresses  his  conviction  in  regard 
to  the  good  character  of  the  damned. 

'*  How  solemn  is  the  seventeenth  verse,  especially  in  its  warn- 
ing to  forgetters  of  God.  The  moral  who  are  not  devout,  the 
honest  who  are  not  prayerful,  the  benevolent  who  are  not  believ- 


122  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

ing,  the  amiable  who  are  not  converted,  —  these  must  all  have 
their  portion  with  the  openly  wicked  in  the  hell  which  is  prepared 
for  the  devil  and  his  angels.  I'here  are  whole  nations  of  such. 
The  forgetters  of  God  are  far  more  numerous  than  the  profane 
or  profligate;  and,  according  to  the  very  forceful  expression  of 
the  Hebrew,  the  nethermost  hell  will  be  the  place  into  which  all 
of  them  shall  be  hurled  headlong."     {Treasury  of  David.) 

Is  it  not  clear  then  that  God  igiK^res  actual  moral  dis- 
tinctions, when  he  allows  ''the  moral,"  "the  honest,"  "the 
benevolent,"  and  "the  amiable,"  to  go  to  the  "nethermost 
hell"? 

But  a  small  proportion  of  the  good  people  of  the  woild 
are  gathered  into  the  Christian  Church ;  and  if  it  be  true 
that  only  those  who  "accept  Christ"  are  saved,  there  will 
be  but  a  small  proportion  of  the  good  in  heaven.  Some 
of  the  grandest  souls  that  have  ennobled  human  life  and 
character  have  been  reared  under  the  name  and  influ- 
ence of  paganism.  Though  they  have  not  professed  the 
Christian  religion,  they  have  "been  diligent  to  frame  their 
lives  according  to  the  light  of  nature  and  the  law  of  that 
religion  they  do  profess ; "  yet,  if  the  Westminster  Cate- 
chism, and  the  system  of  theology  which  it  represents,  be 
true,  they  cannot  be  saved  in  any  way  whatsoever,  and 
"  to  assert  and  maintain  that  they  may  is  very  pernicious 
and  to  be  detested." 

One  of  the  charges  brought  in  1874  against  Rev.  David 
Swing  of  Chicago,  on  his  trial  for  heresy,  was  that  he 
had  used  language  contrary  to  this  section  of  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith :  — 

"  He  [David  Swing]  has  used  language  in  respect  to  Penelope 
and  Socrates  which  is  unwarrantable  and  contrary  to  the  teach- 
ings of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Chap.  X.  Sec.  iv. ;  that  is  to  say, 
in  his  sermon  entitled  '  Soul  Culture'  the  following  passage 
occurs:  'There  is  no  doubt  the  notorious  Catherine  H.  held 
more  truth  and  better  truth  than  was  known  to  all  classic  Greece 
—  held  to  a  belief  in  a  Saviour,  of  whose  glory  that  gifted  land 
knew  nought;  and  yet  such  is  the  grandeur  of  soul  above  mind, 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  123 

that  I  doubt  not  that  Queen  Penelope,  of  the  dark  land,  and  the 
doubting  Socrates  have  found  at  heaven's  gate  a  sweeter  wel- 
come, sung  of  angels,  than  greeted  the  ear  of  Russia's  brilliant 
but  false-lived  queen.'"     {Specification  12.) 

No  matter  what  tlie  purity  and  moral  altitude  of  a 
heathen  soul  may  be,  "  the  heathen  in  mass,"  according 
to  Dr.  A.  A.  Hodge  of  Princeton,  "  with  no  single  definite 
and  unquestionable  exception  on  record,  are  evidently 
strangers  to  God,  and  going  to  death  in  an  unsaved  con- 
dition." 1 

Precisely  the  same  rules  which  exclude  Penelope,  Soc- 
rates, Epictetus,  Plato,  Plutarch,  Confucius,  and  Gautama, 
exclude  also  Channing,  Emerson,  Parker,  Garrison,  Lin- 
coln, Longfellow,  Spinoza,  Humboldt,  Darwin,  and  a 
numerous  host  of  "  the  moral,"  "  the  honest,"  "  the  ben- 
evolent," and  "  the  amiable,"  from  the  joys  of  the  future 
life.  It  is  therefore  clear,  according  to  Orthodoxy,  that 
God  not  only  chooses  but  a  few  from  the  whole  race  to  be 
saved,  but  that  he  ignores  all  actual  moral  distinctions  in 
selecting  this  number,  and  therefore  but  a  small  percent- 
age of  the  good  can  reach  heaven. 

The  moral  enormity  of  this  doctrine  is  thus  clearly 
exhibited  in  the  inevitable  conclusion  to  which  it  leads, 
that  not  only  the  great  majority  of  the  race,  but  the  great 
majority  of  the  good^  are  doomed  to  endless  woe. 

S.    The  State  of  the  Doomed, 

It  is  not  merely  the  number  and  the  character  of  the 
majority  that  make  this  doctrine  hideous,  but  it  is  the 
nature  and  extent  of  the  doom  they  suffer  — a  misery  in- 
describable in  its  severity  and  uneiiding  in  its  duration. 

It  is  a  sufficient  condemnation  of  the  Orthodox  view  of 
God  that,  in  dooming  the  great  majority  of  the  race,  his 
practical  and  moral  government  of  the  universe  is  proved 

1  Com.  on  Conf.  of  Faith,  p.  242. 


124  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

to  be  a  failure.  It  is  a  still  greater  condemnation  of  the 
system  that  God  is  represented  as  ignoring  all  practical 
moral  distinctions  in  choosing  the  saved,  while  he  violates 
the  principles  of  justice  and  mercy  in  condemning  the 
lost;  but  the  climax  of  injustice  is  not  reached  until  we 
remember  the  utter  horror  and  endlessness  of  the  misery 
to  which  they  are  consigned. 

We  have  directed  this  treatise  against  a  point  in  regard 
to  which  Orthodoxy  seems  to  have  developed  an  unex- 
pected sensitiveness.  Certain  modern  Calvinists  are  in- 
dignant that  Orthodoxy  should  be  represented  as  teaching 
that  the  majority  are  doomed,  while  they  manifest  no 
indignation  whatever  at  the  nature  and  extent  of  the 
doom  which  this  majority  must  suffer.  Yet  it  is  the 
severity  and  endlessness  of  the  punishment  which  makes 
the  number  of  its  victims  of  importance. 

Dr.  William  Rankin  Duryee  has  said  that  "so  far  as 
sentiment  goes,  one  soul  eternally  lost  is  as  painful  to 
contemplate  as  ten  million  souls."  ^  It  depends  somewhat 
upon  the  nature  of  the  sentiment  invoked.  The  senti- 
ment of  justice  has  a  problem  to  deal  with  in  considering 
why  God  should  create  the  greater  part  of  the  human 
race  simply  to  damn  them  for  his  glory,  which  it  does  not 
have  in  considering  tlie  damnation  of  a  single  unrepentant 
soul;  but  to  the  sentiment  of  pity  we  do  not  know 
which  seems  more  pathetic,  to  contemplate  billions  of 
human  souls  in  endless  torment,  or  to  think  of  a  single 
lost  soul  left  in  utter  loneliness  in  the  eternal  abyss. 
Perhaps,  if  we  had  the  ingenuity  of  Emmons,  we  mij^ht 
discover  a  flickering  indication  of  divine  benevolence  in 
the  very  fact  that  God,  out  of  pity  to  the  few,  damns  the 
vast  majority,  that  they  may  enjoy  toofether  that  company 
which  misery  is  said  to  love.  "  Solitude,"  says  Donne, 
"is  a  torment  which  is  not  threatened  in  hell   itself." ^ 

1  Christian  Intelligencer,  Feb.  14,  1883. 
'-^  Works,  vol.  iii.  p  518. 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  126 

Certainly  not,  if  we  accept  the  official  estimates  of  the 
American  Board  as  to  the  number  of  souls  hell  contains  — 
estimates  based  on  accepted  data  of  Orthodox  theology. 
One  of  the  Schoolmen,  quoted  by  Donne,  declared,  how- 
ever, that  hell  could  not  be  possibly  above  three  thousand 
miles  in  compass,  and  that  one  of  the  torments  of  that 
place  would  be  its  crowded  state.^  And  it  is  apparent 
tliat  neither  Emmons  nor  Edwards,  nor  any  modern  expo- 
nent of  the  horrors  of  that  place,  intends  that  we  shall 
derive  any  comfort  from  the  fact  of  numbers. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  Dr.  Duryee  being  our  witness, 
that  no  mere  alteration  in  the  number  of  the  lost  can 
remove  the  darkness  of  the  destiny  to  which  the  lost  are 
consigned.  Upon  this  point  Calvinism  and  Arminianism 
stand  on  the  same  plane.  Arminianism  has  nobly  pro- 
tested against  the  doom  of  the  majority,  but  it  has  failed 
to  protest  against  the  doom  of  the  minority.  It  has  sought 
to  make  God  less  cruel  and  vindictive,  it  has  endeavored 
to  throw  the  responsibility  of  future  punishment  upon 
man  instead  of  God,  it  has  recoiled  with  indignation 
from  the  doctrine  of  reprobation,  it  has  refused  to  believe 
in  the  condemnation  of  the  heathen  in  mass,  it  has  offered 
the  atonement  to  all;  but,  with  individual  exceptions, 
Arminianism  has  taught,  and  still  teaches,  the  endless 
misery  of  all  those  who  fail,  during  a  probation  confined 
to  this  life,  to  accept  the  gospel.  Methodism  has  been  the 
resolute  opponent  of  Universalism ;  it  has  vied  with  Cal- 
vinism in  depicting,  with  lurid  and  painful  particularity, 
the  fearful  and  unending  state  of  those  who  fall  into  hell. 
If  it  were  the  purpose  of  this  treatise  to  show  what  Evan- 
gelical denominations  have  taught  concerning  the  horrors 
of  hell,  we  should  hardly  know  whether  Arminian  or 
Calvinistic  annals  furnished  the  more  abundant  material. 
The  prominence  which  this  doctrine  has  had  in  both  sys- 
tems, and  the  frequency  with  which  its  terrors  have  been 

1  Works,  vol.  iii.  p.  325. 

fui^lVEESITT? 


126  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

exposed,  render  any  further  delineation  of  its  physical  and 
mental  horrors  unnecessary.  It  has  been  the  especial  task 
of  those  who  have  believed  in  an  endless  hell  to  exhibit, 
for  greater  effect,  the  agonies  it  imposes  on  its  victims. 
The  books,  sermons,  and  tracts  which  have  been  printed 
to  illustrate  it  would  fill  a  good-sized  library;  and  we 
may  thank  heaven  that  by  far  the  larger  part  of  the  myr- 
iads of  sermons  preached  to  propagate  it  have  escaped 
the  printing-press  and  suffered  a  just  oblivion.  A  brief 
reference  to  the  titles  collected  by  Dr.  Abbot,  in  his  Bibli- 
ography of  the  Future  Life  already  referred  to,  will  show 
how  many  treatises  have  been  devoted  to  the  special  work 
of  depicting  endless  horrors.  Jonathan  Edwards  is  more 
widely  known  to-day  for  his  famous  descriptions  of  hell- 
torment  than  for  other  things  which  deserve  belter  to  be 
remembered.  The  resources  of  human  ingenuity  and  of 
human  language  seem  to  have  been  exhausted  in  inventing 
forms  of  torture  through  which  the  divine  wrath  may  be 
exhibited  during  the  unending  cycles  of  eternity. 

At  the  present  day  dehneations  of  the  physical  terrors 
of  hell  are  less  common.  Only  the  uneducated  perhaps 
would  maintain  with  Charles  Wesley  that  — 

"  A  real,  fiery,  sulphurous  hell 

Shall  prey  upon  our  outward  frame;  " 
(Hymns  on  God's  Everlasting  Love,  Hymn  xi.  p.  23.) 

But  the  Orthodox  conviction  of  the  severity  of  the  tor- 
ture has  been  in  no  degree  relaxed.  Its  form  has  been 
changed  only  to  add  to  its  intensity;  and  those  who 
no  longer  believe  in  a  physical  fire  still  assert  with 
Wesley :  — 

"But  sorer  pangs  the  soul  shall  feel 
Tormented  in  a  fiercer  flame." 

It  matters  little  whether  we  are  taught  that  the  damned 
are  forever  burned  in  a  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone,  whether 
they  are  remanded  to  the  tortures  of  a  Satanic  persecutor, 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  127 

who  shares  with  God  the  glory  of  their  pain ;  or  whether 
they  are  simply  abandoned  to  the  more  excruciating  tor- 
tures of  a  sleepless  conscience,  or  affections  lacerated  by 
eternal  separation  from  all  that  is  lovable.  In  any  case 
the  suffering  is  represented  as  the  most  extreme  that  the 
human  mind  can  conceive,  while  its  duration  is  described 
as  absolutely  unending. 

If,  as  we  have  said,  it  has  been  the  especial  task  of 
believers  in  an  endless  hell  to  expose  the  physical  and 
mental  horrors  of  the  doctrine  they  have  taught,  it  has 
been  reserved  for  those  who  oppose  the  doctrine  to  point 
out  its  moral  enormities.  If  the  pictures  drawn  of  the 
state  of  the  damned  are  horrible,  the  picture  of  God  pr 
gented  is  still  more  horrible.  We  cannot  avoid  the 
conviction  that  the  damned  are  morally  superior  to  a  God 
who,  with  malignant  hate  or  cruel  indifference,  would 
consign  them  to  a  fate  which  they  have  in  no  measure 
deserved.  All  attempts  to  found  this  doctrine  upon 
rational  premises  utterly  fail.  It  is  in  its  very  nature 
irrational  and  arbitrary ;  and  it  can  only  exist  under  the 
suf)i)osition  that  God  is  a  tyrant  to  be  feared,  and  not  a 
Father  to  be  loved  and  obeyed. 

The  conception  of  law  is  totally  opposed  to  a  punish- 
ment which  is  lawless  in  its  execution  ;  and  all  ethical 
considerations  are  violated  when  we  find  God  meting  out 
infinite  punishment  for  a  finite  sin.  Of  all  the  lame 
apologies  which  Orthodoxy  has  been  driven  to  make  in 
its  behalf,  none  avail  to  remove  the  fearful  moral  diffi- 
culties of  this  doctrine,  and  the  terrible  reproach  it  casts 
upon  the  character  of  God. 

That  retribution  for  acts  done  in  this  life  may  extend 
to  the  next,  and  that  the  vast  majority  of  mankind  may 
have  much  to  repent  of,  we  do  not  deny.  Such  a  concep- 
tion is  rational  and  ethical ;  but  it  is  the  fearful  curse  of 
endless  woe  that  makes  future  punishment  hideous.  It 
assumes  that  evil  must  forever  continue  in  the  universe, 


128  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

and  that  Infinite  Goodness  has  no  power  to  subdue  it ;  or 
if  God's  power  be  acknowledged,  it  assumes  that  he  is  not 
willing  to  exert  it,  and  thus  while  his  power  abides,  his 
goodness  perishes. 

The  doctrine  of  endless  punishment,  and  the  idea  of 
God  that  accompanies  it,  belongs  to  an  age  that  is  past  — 
an  age  of  superstition  and  cruelty.  It  is  a  belief  which 
could  never  yield  the  fruits  of  righteousness  and  peace. 
It  does  not  draw  men  toward  God ;  it  drives  them  from 
him.  Its  practical  results  have  been  such  as  we  might 
expect  from  so  cruel  a  theory.  Rev.  Stopford  Brooke 
justly  claims  that  "the  doctrine  of  eternal  punishment 
ought  to  be  denied  because  of  its  evil  fruits." 

*'  A  good  tree  does  not  bring  forth  corrupt  fruit,  and  we  owe 
to  this  doctrine  all  the  slaughter  and  cruelty  done  by  alternately 
triumphant  sects  in  the  name  of  God.  It  gave  birth  to  the 
Inquisition  ;  it  drove  the  Jews  to  unutterable  misery  ;  it  burnt 
thousands  of  innocent  men  and  women  for  witchcraft ;  it  tor- 
tured and  rent  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men  ;  it  depopulated  fertile 
lands  ;  it  ruined  nations  ;  it  kept  the  world  for  centuries  in  dark- 
ness, held  back  civilization,  and  in  all  ages  urged  on  the  dogs 
of  cruelty  and  fanaticism  to  their  accursed  hunting."  {Eternal 
Punishment :  a  sermon,  preached  at  Bedford  Chapel,  London, 
Nov.  5,  1882.) 

None  too  severe  is  this  bold  arraignment.  If  this 
doctrine  has  not  always  been  the  direct  and  immediate 
cause  of  such  cruelties,  it  has  sprung  from  the  very  spirit 
that  created  them,  and  has  powerfully  assisted  in  their 
perpetuation.  Men  have  appealed  to  the  cruelty  of  God 
to  justify  the  cruelties  which  they  have  wrought  with  their 
own  hands.  And  what  are  the  practical  effects  of  the  doc- 
trine to-day  ?  Mr.  Brooke  has  observed  them  in  England 
and  thus  speaks  :  — 

"  Those  were  its  fruits  in  the  past,  and  on  this  account  we 
ought  to  deny  its  truth.  But  now  we  ought  to  fight  against  its 
lies  day  by  day;  for  we  who  do  not  believe  it  have  no  notion  of 
the  harm  it  is  doing  to  those  who  do  believe  it.     We  are  bound 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  129 

to  contend  against  it  if  we  have  any  desire  that  a  nobler  Christi- 
anity should  prevail  among  men,  for  its  teaching  drives  men  into 
infidelity  and  atheism.  The  less  educated  classes  —  who  yet  feel 
strongly,  and  more  strongly  than  the  educated,  the  things  of  the 
conscience  and  the  heart  —  say  that  it  denies  all  their  moral  in- 
stincts. And  so  it  does.  It  makes  them  look  on  God  as  an 
unreasoning  and  capricious  tyrant,  and  they  turn  from  him  with 
dread  and  hate.  It  makes  them  consider  the  story  of  redemption 
as  either  a  weak  effort  on  the  part  of  an  incapable  God  to  save 
man,  or  as  mockery  by  him  of  his  creatures,  on  the  plea  of  a 
love  which  they  see  as  derisive,  and  a  justice  which  they  see 
as  favoritism.  And  till  we  free  the  teachings  of  Christianity 
from  this  doctrine,  religious  teachers  will  still  continue  to  give, 
as  they  do  now,  the  greatest  impulse  to  infidelity  among  the 
working-classes,  an  impulse  much  greater  than  any  given  by 
all  the  materialism  of  philosophers  or  all  the  mouthing  of 
iconoclasts."     (lb.) 

There  are  grateful  signs  that  this  doctrine  is  losing  its 
hold  upon  the  popular  mind.  The  Evangelical  churches 
find  it  less  politic  to  use  it  as  an  aggressive  weapon. 
Formerly  the  doctrine  was  used  to  defend  the  authority 
of  the  Church ;  at  present  the  Church  is  obliged  to  defend 
the  authority  of  the  doctrine.  It  still  stands  in  all  its 
grimness  on  the  church  creeds,  but  apologies  are  required 
for  its  presence  there.  One  of  them  lies  before  us.  It  is 
a  tract  entitled  "Eternal  Destruction,"  issued  by  the 
Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication,  Philadelphia,  in  1882, 
to  show  "that  eternal  death,  or  everlasting  destruction,  is 
both  reasonable  and  necessary,  as  the  highest  penalty 
under  the  divine  government."  "  Our  object,"  says  the 
author,  "is  rather  to  tone  up  the  faith  and  correct  the 
errors  of  many  who,  while  professing  to  hold  fast  to  the 
doctrine  of  future  punishment  as  set  forth  in  the  creeds 
of  the  Evangelical  churches,  do  it,  nevertheless,  with 
apparent  misgivings,  and  when  they  speak  of  it  are  wont 
to  say  in  substance  that  it  is  a  terrible  mystery  that  such 
a  doctrine  is  contained  in  a  revelation  from  the  God  of 


130  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

infinite  love,  and  that  they  could  not  receive  it  were  it 
not  for  the  positive  teaching  of  inspiration.  If  they  at- 
tempt to  use  the  terrors  of  future  retribution  as  a  part  of 
God's  message  to  sinful  men,  they  do  it  so  ddlcately^  and 
with  such  softening  circumlocution,  as  fairly  to  suggest 
tliat  either  the  Evangelical  ministry  of  the  present  day  do 
not  half  believe  the  doctrine  of  endless  punishment,  or 
that  they  have  not  the  courage  to  preach  it.  And  those 
who  repeat  this  saying  care  perhaps  very  little  which  of 
these  alternatives  is  true,  for  the  want  of  courage  to  de- 
clare one's  convictions  must  imply  that  such  opinions  are 
passing  out  of  the  general  belief  of  the  community." 

Tliat  such  a  defence  should  be  necessary  shows  the 
higher  ethical  demand  which  compels  it.  That  the  Presby- 
terian Board  should  be  willing  to  make  it,  shows,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  tenacity  with  which  this  doctrine  is  clung 
to  as  an  essential  part  of  the  Orthodox  system.  It  is  a 
belief  which  is  destined  to  die,  but  not  without  a  long 
struggle.  It  behooves  those  who  have  once  held  it,  to 
make  a  continued  and  earnest  effort  to  relieve  other  minces 
of  the  darkness  which  it  casts  over  the  horizon  of  life. 
There  is  no  surer  way  of  contributing  to  its  extinction, 
than  by  insisting  that  ethics  shall  have  the  authority  in 
tlieology  that  it  has  in  common  life.  Theology  has  prac- 
tically ignored  the  profoundest  moral  relations.  It  can- 
not regain  its  authority  until  it  bows  to  the  moral  law 
that  it  has  ignored. 


VII. 

The  Solution. 

It  would  be  a  painful  task  to  expose  the  "  dark  and 
awful "  features  of  the  doom  of  the  majority,  if  we  did 
not  know  that  there  is  a  brighter  and  nobler  view  of  God 
and  human  destiny  which  should  displace  it.     It  is  un- 


MAJORITY   OF    MANKIND.  131 

doubtedly  true,  as  we  have  said  before,  that  the  great  mass> 
who  hold  this  doctrine,  only  nominally  believe  it.  It  does 
not  affect  their  happiness,  because  they  never  realize  its 
fearful  import.  Human  nature  has  other  resources  besides 
logic  vvitli  which  to  protect  itself  against  superstition.  As 
a  bullet  may  be  encysted  in  the  body,  so  a  painful  and  un- ^ 
natural  belief  may  become  encysted  in  the  mind.  Yet  there 
are  thousands  of  devout,  earnest,  and  thoughtful  people 
who  are  periodically  sensible  of  the  oppressive  weight  of 
this  dogma.  They  would  gladly  be  relieved  of  the  bur- 
den if  they  could  but  see  how  it  might  be  rolled  off.  To 
such  minds  Orthodoxy  offers  no  help.  The  logical  super- 
structure of  Orthodoxy  has  been  carefully  built.  So  long 
as  the  foundation  premises  are  acknowledged,  its  conclu- 
sions inevitably  follow.  The  whole  system  is  based  on  an 
ancient  but  palpably  false  conception  of  the  universe.  The 
false  premises  must  be  removed  before  we  can  expect  to 
destroy  the  false  conclusions. 

In  denying  the  premises  of  Orthodoxy  we  do  not,  ne- 
cessarily, deny  those  of  Christianity.  The  fundamental 
principles  of  all  religions  are  far  deeper  than  the  theo- 
logical systems  that  are  built  upon  them.  Indeed,  it  is 
by  a  re-assertion  of  essentially  Christian  principles  that 
we  find  a  corrective  for  many  of  the  errors  that  have 
been  taught  in  Christianity's  name.  Infant  damnation, 
for  instance,  is  historically  a  dogma  of  Christian  theology; 
yet  nothing  could  be  more  diametrically  opposed  to  the 
original  principles  of  the  Christian  religion.  If  the  gos- 
pels be  not  a  lie,  Jesus  treated  little  children  as  if  they 
were  the  offspring  of  God,  not  as  if  they  were  the  oft- 
§prin<r  of  the  devil. 

What,  then,  is  the  natural,  rational,  and  ethical  relief 
for  this  doctrine  of  the  doom  of  the  majority?  It  is  not 
one  of  our  own  invention.  If  it  were  simply  a  private 
and  personal  solution  we  should  hesitate  to  offer  it ;  but 
it  is  one  towards  which  the  spirit  of  the  age  is  irresistibly 


132  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

moving.  We  are  merely  reporting  its  utterances.  It  is 
a  solution  which  is  an  outgrowth  of  broader  and  healthier 
conceptions  of  God  and  humanity,  and  a  more  enlightened 
view  of  the  functions  of  reason,  ethics,  and  religion.  We 
have  not  space  to  unfold  it  at  length ;  we  can  only  briefly 
indicate  some  directions  in  which  its  influence  is  evident. 

1,    A  More  Enlightened  View  of  the  JBible. 

The  doctrine  we  have  endeavored  to  refute  is  not  a  con- 
genial one  to  the  reason  or  the  heart.  It  would  promptly 
be  abandoned  by  the  majority  who  hold  it,  if  it  were 
not  supposed  to  rest  on  Biblical  authority.  The  creeds 
which  contain  it  are  authoritative  mainly  because  they 
are  presumed  to  be  a  correct  exposition  of  the  Bible  on 
the  points  they  cover.  Hence,  in  the  endeavor  to  refute 
the  Orthodox  view  of  this  doctrine,  much  attention  has 
been  necessarily  directed  towards  a  better  interpretation 
of  the  Scriptures.  The  discussion  has  long  been  waged  on 
the  battle-ground  of  exegesis.  Tliis  has  not  been  without 
valuable  and  helpful  results.  Unfortunately,  however,  it 
has  usually  been  conducted  under  the  limitations  imposed 
by  an  erroneous  view  of  the  Bible  itself.  It  has  been 
assumed  that  there  is  no  appeal  from  its  acknowledged 
teaching;  that  it  concludes  all  debate  on  the  subjects  of 
which  it  speaks ;  that  it  is  divinely  inspired  and  infallible. 
Bound  by  this  view  of  the  infallibility  and  dominant  au- 
thority of  this  collection  of  books,  the  only  resource  which 
has  been  left  to  those  who  accept  it,  when  struggling 
against  doubtful  or  uncongenial  teachings,  has  been  to 
exercise  a  desperate  ingenuity  in  the  interpretation  of 
texts.  The  temptation  has  been  strong  on  one  side  to 
admit  only  traditional  interpretations,  or  those  which  har- 
monized wdth  an  accepted  theological  system  ;  on  the  other 
side,  the  temptation  has  been  to  make  the  Bible  mean 
always  what  we  would  like  to  have  it  mean.  The  integ- 
rity of  the  intellect  has  been  sacrificed  to  quiet  the  moral 


MAJORITY.  OF    MANKIND.  133 

sense  or  to  allay  disturbed  emotions.  Much  has  been  read 
into  the  book  that  does  not  belong  there,  and  much  has 
been  lead  out  of  it  that  it  really  teaches.  This  has  been 
occasioned  wholly  by  the  unjust  claims  made  in  its  behalf, 
and  the  artifices  to  which  men  have  resorted  in  evading 
them. 

In  an  address  which  excited  wide  attention,  and  which 
led  to  the  debate  on  the  special  topic  of  this  book.  Rev. 
George  E.  Ellis,  D.D.,^  said  with  great  truth  :  — 

"  Orthodoxy  cannot  readjust  its  creed  till  it  readjusts  its  estimate 
of  the  Scriptures.  The  only  relief  which  one  who  professes  the 
Orthodox  creed  can  find,  is  either  by  forcing  his  ingenuity  into 
the  proof-texts  or  indulging  his  liberty  outside  of  them.  All  the 
most  vital  and  searching  forces  now  at  work  in  their  bearing 
upon  themes  of  loftiest  import  to  man  demand,  and  are  working 
toward,  the  intelligent  and  fearless  reconsideration  of  the  ac- 
cepted view  of  the  Bible,  which  opens  the  most  teasing  contro- 
versies, which  deals  with  them  all  in  a  most  unsatisfactory  way, 
and  leaves  them  all  unsettled,  if  not  more  perplexed. 

"  Here  is  a  volume  of  miscellaneous  and  heterogeneous  con- 
tents, some  of  them  written  we  know  not  when,  where,  or  by 
whom,  all  of  which  are  unified  as  from  one  divine  source  and 
authority.  In  that  volume  is  matter,  instruction,  warning, 
precept,  and  promise  of  priceless  and  transcendent  value  for  the 
life  and  the  hope  of  man.  For  that,  it  is  consecrated  and 
bedewed  with  the  most  sacred  of  human  affections.  Because 
of  such  contents,  that  book  has  become  to  Christendom  a 
gracious  gift  of  God.  We  refer  to  its  influence,  with  that  of 
the  steady  progress  of  material  and  physical  science  which  it 
has  helped  to  quicken  and  guide,  —  all  the  most  elevating,  refin- 
ing, beneficent,  and  regenerating  agencies  which  are  advancing 
and  redeeming  humanity. 

"  Now  look  at  that  book  from  the  other  side,  as  what  is  called 
Church  History  centres  around  it.    There  are  matters  in  that  book 

1  "  The  Position  of  the  Liberal  Body  as  affected  by  the  Rupture  ' 
in  the  Orthodox  Body  of  Congregationalists,"  Christian  Register,  Nov. 
16,  1882.     See  also  additional  statements  of  Dr.  Ellis  in  issues  of  the 
same  paper  for  Nov.  23,  1882 ;  Jan.  18,  1883. 


134  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

which,  if  they  have  not  been  the  cause,  have  been  the  occasion, 
the  agency,  the  instrumentality,  backed  by  an  assumed  divine 
warrant,  of  strifes,  feuds,  superstitions,  persecutions,  barbari- 
ties, and  atrocities  of  every  staiji  and  hue,  which  have  strewn 
the  world  for  ages  with  wrecks  of  woe  and  agony.  I  will  not 
fill  up  that  outline.  I  shudder  over  the  summary ;  and  I  cannot 
challenge  the  charge  which  assigns  all  this  to  the  estimate  and 
use  of  the  less  lovely,  the  less  benedictive  lessons  of  the  Bible. 
President  Mather  of  our  young  college,  for  many  years  the  most 
eminent  and  honored  man,  citizen,  and  divine  in  this  colony, 
expressly  taught  that  the  divine  command  to  the  Israelites  to 
exterminate  the  Canaanites  was  a  full  warrant  for  the  desolation 
of  our  Indian  tribes.  Search  to  the  bottom  the  history  of  that 
delirium  of  dread  and  frenzy  and  outrage  which  we  call  the 
witchcraft  delusion  here,  nearly  two  centuries  ago.  You  will 
find  but  a  single  palliation  for  the  agency  of  good  and  upright 
men  in  those  horrors.  Judges,  witnesses,  yes,  even  the  victims, 
read  in  a  book  —  which  they  had  all  been  taught  to  believe,  and 
did  believe,  was  written  by  the  finger  of  God  —  this  sentence  : 
*  Thou  shalt  not  suffer  a  witch  to  live.' 

"It  is  not  alleged  by  any  one  that  there  is  a  single  sentence 
in  that  book  which  was  written  with  intent  to  deceive  or  mis- 
lead. But  there  is  much  in  it,  with  the  authority  and  purpose 
claimed  for  it,  which  has  grievously  misled  many  of  the  best  of 
our  race,  and  which  does  so  now.  A  steadily  increasing  number 
of  persons  of  all  grades  and  classes  in  intelligence,  sincerity, 
and  devoutness,  leave  that  book  from  year  to  year  through  a  long 
life  unopened.  Not  as  preachers  complacently  say,  because  of 
their  sin-hardened  hearts,  for  very  many  of  them  are  seeking 
and  longing  for  some  blessed  religious  guidance.  It  is  because 
what  they  remember  and  hear  said  about  the  book,  as  coming 
direct  from  God,  perplexes,  astounds,  and  shocks  them.  Theie 
are  those  who  continue  to  be  readers,  and  who  share  those  feel- 
ings, publishing  their  doubts  and  denials,  often  with  ridicule  and 
scorn.  They  find  in  the  book  commands,  purposes,  and  acts 
assigned  to  God,  at  which  they  would  shudder  if  ascribed  to 
heathen  deities.  Standing  on  this  modern  earth  and  beneath 
these  ancient  heavens,  men  boldly,  sometimes  sadly,  say  that 
there  are  assertions  and  statements  in  that  book  which  they  know 
positively  to  be  untrue,  —  untrue  to  fact,  to  history,  to  the  verities 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  135 

of  nature  and  life,  to  the  attributes  and  rule  of  the  Being  to 
whom  their  loftiest  and  most  devout  convictions  rise  as  the  God 
over  all.  A  clerical  discussion  upou  the  point  whether  Scripture 
texts  can  be  interpreted  so  as  to  allow  a  hope  for  idiots,  infants, 
and  heathen,  who  have  had  an  '  imperfect  probation '  here, 
does  not  reach  to  their  relief.  When  a  few  of  those  texts  are 
alleged  as  certifying  that  the  vast  majority  of  the  human  race 
are  to  be  the  victims  of  endless  woe,  the  questions  cannot  be 
silenced:  '  Who  wrote  those  words,  and  with  what  authority  ? 
Were  they  correctly  reported  and  duly  certified  ?  '  " 

In  these  words  Dr.  Ellis  goes  to  the  very  bottom  of  the 
difficulty.  A  scholarly,  conscientious  exegesis  may  furnish 
some  relief;  but  no  adequate  and  satisfactory  solution  is 
possible  until  the  Orthodox  estimate  of  the  inspiration  and 
infallibility  of  the  Bible  is  revised.  Justice  to  those  who 
wrote  these  books,  as  well  as  to  those  who  read  them, 
requires  such  a  revision.  A  candid  study  of  the  book 
shows,  we  believe,  that  the  Orthodox  view  of  the  Bible  is 
not  taught  in  the  Bible  itself.  Like  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  it  is  something  imposed  upon  it. 

Before  we  can  test  anything  by  the  Bible,  we  must  test 
the  Bible  itself.  The  tests  we  may  employ  are  threefold 
—  historical,  rational,  and  ethical. 

THE   HISTORICAL   TEST. 

Whence,  when,  and  how,  we  must  ask,  did  this  collection 
of  books  come  ?  Who  wrote  them,  whom  did  they  address, 
and  to  what  end  ?  How  was  this  collection  put  together, 
under  what  influences,  and  by  whose  decision  ? 

The  simple  historical  answer,  which  we  cannot  present 
in  detail,  shows  that  the  Bible  grew  up  precisely  as  other 
sacred  books  grew, — that,  while  it  records  miraculous 
events,  it  has  no  miraculous  history  itself.  It  was  written 
in  Hebrew  and  Greek,  by  different  men  of  widely  different 
character,  during  an  interval  of  a  thousand  years.  The 
original  manuscripts  have  not  been  preserved.     The  copies 


136  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

that  exist  vary  suiRciently  to  make  an  infallible  text  impos- 
sible. No  truthful  man  can  put  a  copy  of  the  Greek  or 
of  the  Hebrew  Testament  into  the  hands  of  a  reader  of 
these  languages,  and  say,  "Here  is  the  book  just  as  it 
was  originally  written."  There  are  many  manuscripts  to 
choose  from,  and  the  best  Hebrew  and  Greek  text  of  the 
Bible  is  that  which  shows  the  best  human  judgment  and 
the  widest  and  most  accurate  scholarship  in  its  selection. 

Still  further,  historical  research  shows  that  the  books 
which  compose  the  Bible  were  not  bound  together  by  the 
command  or  indication  of  God ;  they  were  selected  by 
men.  We  have  no  evidence  that  the  judgment  of  Christi.in 
communities,  leaders,  or  councils  was  infallible.  On  the 
contrary,  the  Christian  Church  has  never  agreed  as  to 
the  number  and  selection  of  books  which  constitute  the 
Bible.  Thus,  Augustine  had  one  Bible,  and  Jerome 
another;  the  Roman  Church  has  one  Bible,  and  the  Prot- 
estant another ;  the  Swedenborgians  one  Bible,  and  the 
Orthodox  another.  The  history  of  the  formation  of  the 
Bible  Canon  is  a  refutation  of  the  claim  that  is  made  for 
the  infallibility  of  the  book.  "  It  is  clear,"  says  Dr.  Samuel 
Davidson,^  "  that  the  earliest  Church  Fathers  did  not  use 
the  books  of  the  New  Testament  as  sacred  documents 
clothed  with  divine  authority,  but  followed  for  the  most 
part,  at  least  till  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  apos- 
tolic tradition  orally  transmitted.  They  were  not  solicit- 
ous about  a  Canon  circumscribed  within  certain  limits." 
And  in  regard  to  the  principle  which  guided  selection 
Dr.  Davidson  says:  — 

''  The  exact  principles  that  guided  the  formation  of  a  Canon 
in  the  earliest  centuries  cannot  be  discovered.  Definite  grounds 
for  the  reception  or  rejection  of  books  were  not  very  clearly 
apprehended.  The  choice  was  determined  by  various  circum- 
stances, of  which  apostolic  origin  was  the  chief,  though  this 

1  Article  on  "  The  Canon,"  in  Encydopoedia  Britannica,  nint'u  ed., 
vol.  V.  pp.  9,  10. 


MAJORITY    OF    MANKIND.  137 

itself  was  insufficiently  attested ;  for,  if  it  be  asked  whether  all 
tiie  New  Testament  writings  proceeded  from  the  authors  whose 
names  they  bear,  criticism  cannot  reply  in  the  affirmative.  .   .   . 

"  Inste9,d  of  attributing  the  formation  of  the  Canon  to  the 
Church,  it  would  be  more  correct  to  say  that  the  important  stage 
in  it  was  due  to  three  teachers,  each  working  separately  and  in 
his  own  way,  who  were  intent  upon  the  creation  of  a  Christian 
society  which  did  not  appear  in  the  apostolic  age,  —  a  visible 
organization  united  in  faith,  —  where  the  discordant  opinions  of 
apostolic  and  sub-apostolic  times  should  be  finally  merged.  The 
Canon  was  not  the  work  of  the  Christian  Church,  so  much  as 
of  the  men  who  were  striving  to  form  that  Church,  and  could 
not  get  beyond  the  mould  received  by  primitive  Christian 
literature." 

Lutlier  exercised  the  right  of  private  judgment  very 
freely  in  regard  to  tlie  books  which  should  compose  the 
Bible.  Esther,  he  thought,  did  not  properly  belong  to  it. 
The  Apocalypse  he  "  considered  neither  apostolic  nor 
prophetic,  but  put  it  almost  on  the  same  level  with  the 
Fourth  Book  of  Esdras,  which  he  spoke  elsewhere  of  toss- 
ing into  the  Elbe."  ^  The  Epistle  of  James  he  thought 
an  "epistle  of  straw;"  and  he  denied  apostolic  authorship 
to  James,  Jude,  and  Hebrews.  If  Luther  could  be  so 
free  and  independent  in  judging  the  authority  of  whole 
books,  why  may  we  not  judge  with  equal  freedom  the 
authority  of  special  texts  ? 

If  God  had  seen  fit  to  make  an  infallible  book,  we  may 
be  certain  that  he  would  have  surely  indicated  what  books 
or  chapters  should  belong  to  it,  and  that  he  would  not 
have  left  its  interpretation  such  a  doubtful  matter.  The 
Roman  Catholic  Church  has  consistently  maintained  that 
an  infallible  interpretation  is  necessary  to  an  infallible 
revelation. 

It  is  evident  therefore,  on  external  and  historic  groundsj 
that  there  is  not  the  slightest  foundation  on  which  to  build 
this  dogma  of  Protestantism. 

1  Ibid.,  p.  14. 


138  THE  DOOM  OF  THE 


THE  RATIONAL  TEST. 


If  there  is  no  external  authority  for  the  interpretation 
of  the  Bible,  we  must  judge  it  by  its  contents.  We  must 
apply  to  it  precisely  the  same  tests  that  we  apply  to  all 
other  books.  If  the  Bible  appeals  to  reason,  we  must 
judge  it  by  the  laws  of  reason.  If  the  Bible  contradicts 
reason,  reason  may  justly  contradict  the  Bible. 

Bishop  Butler  clearly  recognized  the  rational  test :  — 

"  I  express  myself  with  caution,  lest  I  should  be  mistaken  to 
vilify  reason;  which  is  indeed  the  only  faculty  we  have  where- 
with to  judge  concerning  anything,  even  revelation  itself;  or  be 
misunderstood  to  assert,  that  a  supposed  revelation  cannot  be 
proved  false  fiom  internal  characters.  For  it  may  contain  clear 
immoralities  or  contradictions;  and  either  of  these  would  prove 
it  false."    (Butler's  Analogy,  Part  II.  ch.  iii.  p.  219,  Bohn's  Ed.) 

Again :  — 

"  Reason  can,  and  it  ought  to  judge,  not  only  of  the  meaning, 
but  also  of  the  morality  and  the  evidence  of  revelation."  {Ih. 
p.  229.) 

Dr.  Channingdid  noble  service  in  maintaining  the  office 

of  reason  in  testing  and  interpreting  the  Bible.     "  How," 

he  asked,  "is  the  right  of  interpretation,  the  real  meaning 

\  of  Scriptures,  to  be  ascertained  ?     I  answer,  By  Reason. 

/  I  know  of  no  process  by  which  the  true  sense  of  the  New 

/  Testament  is  to  pass  from  the  page  into  ray  mind  without 

the  use  of  my  rational  faculties.     In  truth,  no  book  can 

be  written  so  simply  as  to  need  no  exercise  of  reason." 

In  another  passage.  Dr.  Channing  says:  — 

"  If  I  could  not  be  Christian  without  ceasing  to  be  rational, 
I  should  not  hesitate  as  to  my  choice.  I  feel  myself  bound  to 
sacrifice  to  Christianity  property,  reputation,  and  life  ;  but  I 
ought  not  to  sacrifice  to  any  religion  that  reason  which  lifts  me 
above  the  brute  and  constitutes  me  a  man.  I  can  conceive  no 
sacrilege  gr-  iter  than  to  prostrate  or  renounce  the  highest  fac- 
ulty which  wb  have  derived  from  God.  In  so  doing,  we  should 
offer  violence  to  the  divinity  within  us."  (^Christianity  a  Rational 
Religion.) 


MAJORITY    OF    MANKIND.  139 

Again,  in  the  same  paper,  he  said :  "  We  must  never 
forget  that  our  rational  nature  is  the  greatest  gift  of  God. 
For  this,  we  owe  him  our  chief  gratitude.  It  is  a  greater 
gift  than  any  outward  aid  or  benefaction^  and  no  doctrine 
which  degrades  it  can  come  from  its  Author." 

On  this  ground,  which  Channing  took,  we  may  main- 
tain a  firm  stand.  The  Bible  is  a  noble  gift  from  humanity 
to  humanity  ;  but  reason  is  still  nobler  and  diviner,  because 
it  is  the  witness  we  have  that  we  are  the  offspring  of  the 
Eternal  Mind. 

It  is  clear  that  reason  must  use  to-day  all  the  light  that 
eighteen  centuries  of  increased  knowledge  may  throw 
upon  the  topics  which  the  Bible  treats.  We  need  no 
longer  turn  to  Genesis  to  learn  the  story  of  the  creation 
of  the  world  or  the  origin  of  man,  or  to  explain  the 
diversity  of  human  speech.  Modern  science  can  read  the 
story  of  creation  more  correctly  from  a  still  older  Genesis. 
Historical  questions  are  to  be  determined  by  untrammeled 
historical  criticism,  and  all  questions  involving  rational 
judgment  are  to  be  decided  on  rational  principles,  or  by 
appeals  to  human  experience. 

Some  years  ago  the  writer  attended  a  prolonged  debate 
in  Utah,  between  Orson  Pratt  and  Rev.  Dr.  J.  P.  Newman, 
on  the  subject,  "  Does  the  Bible  sanction  Polygamy  ?  "  The 
Mormon  marshalled  texts  with  considerable  skill,  and  the 
debate  concluded  with  a  hot  battle  over  the  interpretation 
of  a  certain  text  in  Leviticus,  which  began  with  a  "  Thus 
saith  the  Lord,"  the  one  side  contending  that  it  prohibited 
polygamy,  and  the  other  that  it  permitted  it;  and  the 
Plebrew  language  suffered  evident  violence  in  the  en- 
deavor to  make  it  mean  one  thing  or  the  other.  It  was  a 
striking  proof  of  the  futility  of  appealing  to  an  infallible 
book  without  an  infallible  interpretation.  ^  rational 
method  would  have  transferred  the  discussion  to  another 
field,  and  decided  it  not  by  a  text  in  Leviticus,  but  by  the 
common  sense,  the  moral  judgments,  and  the  experience 
of  humanity. 


140  THE   DOOM    OF   THE 

THE   ETHICAL   AND   RELIGIOUS   TEST. 

If  reason  is  necessary  to  test  the  truth  or  error  of  any 
given  part  of  the  Bible,  the  ethical  and  religious  test  is 
still  more  necessary.  We  must  decline  to  accept  as  au- 
thoritatioe  any  interpretation  of  the  Bihle^  he  it  true  or 
false,  which  affronts  the  moral  sense  of  humanity  or  im- 
pugns the  righteousness  of  God. 

The  savage  barbarities  of  the  early  Hebrews,  for  in- 
stance, in  the  slaughter  of  their  enemies,  are  defended 
because  done  by  divine  command.  We  apply  the  ethical 
test,  and  are  forced  to  decide  that  God  Qould  not  and  did 
not  command  any  such  atrocities.  They  are  sufficiently 
explained  by  the  existence  and  unrighteous  manifestation 
of  human  passions,  and  find  sad  parallels  even  in  our  own 
day.  We  cannot  suppose  that  God  ever  literally  com- 
manded a  Hebrew  father  to  sacrifice  his  child  upon  an 
altar,  even  if  merely  to  try  his  faith.  The  story  of  Abra- 
ham is  an  illustration  of  the  ruling  idea  of  early  ages;  and 
we  see  how  the  patriarch,  in  climbing  the  mountain, 
reached  also  higher  and  truer  ideas  of  God.  The  moral 
standard  of  the  early  Hebrews  was  lower  than  that  we 
accept  to-day,  and  therefore  is  not  to  be  received  as  au- 
thoritative, unless  confirmed  or  corrected  by  later  and 
higher  tests. 

It  is  from  a  failure  to  apply  the  ethical  test  to  the  Bible, 
that  Orthodoxy  has  reared  upon  it  a  theological  system 
which,  as  Channing  well  said,  "  owes  its  perpetuity  to  the 
influence  of  fear  in  palsying  the  moral  nature."  "Its 
errors  are  peculiarly  mournful,  because  they  relate  to  the 
character  of  God.  It  darkens  and  stains  his  pure  nature, 
spoils  his  character  of  its  sacredness,  loveliness,  glory,  and 
thus  quenches  the  central  light  of  the  universe,  makes 
existence  a  curse,  and  the  extinction  of  it  a  consummatian 
devoutly  to  be  wished."  ^ 

1  Moral  Argument  against  Calvinism. 


MAJORITY    OF    MANKIND.  141 

The  moral  darkness  of  that  system  is  sufficiently  illus- 
trated and  abundantly  acknowledged  in  the  evidence  we 
have  presented  in  relation  to  this  doctrine.  In  justice  to 
the  Bible,  it  may  be  necessary  critically  to  study  its  pages 
to  see  if  it  teaches  it ;  but,  when  we  are  asked  to  decide 
about  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  itself,  exegesis  has  nothing 
to  do  with  it.  The  dogma  must  be  tried  at  the  bar  of 
reason  and  conscience ;  and,  when  these  condemn  it, 
its  doom  is  sealed.  The  Bible  is  not  the  test  of  Ethics, 
but  Ethics  must  be  the  test  of  the  Bible.  Says  Dr. 
Channing :  — 

"Reason  must  prescribe  the  tests  or  standards  to  which  a 
professed  communication  from  God  should  be  referred;  and, 
among  these,  none  are  more  important  than  the  moral  law  which 
belongs  to  the  very  essence  and  is  the  deepest  conviction  of  the 
rational  nature."     (^Christianity  a  Rational  Religion.^ 

"  How  dangerous  it  is  to  read  the  Scriptures  without  carrying 
into  their  interpretation  our  reason  and  the  light  of  conscience ! 
.  .  .  The  free,  bold  language  of  the  Apostle  has  been  perverted 
from  its  original  significance,  and  made  to  support  a  system 
which  reason  and  conscience  revolt  from,  and  which  transforms 
Christianity  from  the  gospel  of  glad  tidings  into  the  saddest 
message  ever  preached."     {The  Universal  Father.) 

IS    THE    BIBLE    AN   ORTHODOX    BOOK? 

Not  until  we  have  put  aside,  as  unbiblical,  unreasonable, 
and  untenable,  the  Orthodox  view  of  the  nature  and 
origin  of  the  Bible,  and  are  prepared  to  treat  it  simply  as  a 
collection  of  religious  and  historical  books  of  purely  human 
origin,  resting  on  the  same  basis  with  all  other  religious 
books,  are  we  in  a  position  to  ask  what  the  Bible  is,  and 
what  it  teaches.  Only  then  can  we  approach  it  without 
theological  bias.  We  shall  then  find  that  it  does  not  teach 
the  system  of  Orthodoxy,  or  any  exact  system  of  theology. 
The  doctrinal  unity  of  the  book  is  utterly  broken.  It  was 
written  at  different  times,  by  different  men,  under  the 


142  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

influence  of  different  ideas.  It  shows  growth,  develop- 
ment, diversity.  A  monotheistic  conception  dominates 
both  of  its  divisions ;  but  there  is  just  as  much  difference 
between  Jahveh,  the  jealous  God  of  the  early  Hebrews, 
and  the  tender,  loving  Father  whom  Jesus  worshipped, 
as  there  is  between  the  God  of  Calvin  and  the  God  of 
Channing.  The  Canticles  have  no  more  reference  to 
Jesus  than  have  Virgil's  Eclogues.  The  writer  of  the 
fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah  no  more  thought  of  Jesus, 
when  he  wrote  that  chapter,  than  he  thought  of  Abraham 
Lincoln ;  and  the  lesson  of  the  chapter  is  as  applicable  to 
one  as  to  the  other,  illustrating  a  grand  truth  which  the 
whole  history  of  the  world  plainly  reveals,  that  "  without 
shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission."  Only  through 
the  blood  of  its  martyrs  has  humanity  been  lifted  to  a 
higher  plane  of  truth.  Difference,  diversity,  opposition, 
and  development  are  seen  in  the  New  Testament.  Paul 
did  not  teach  the  miraculous  birth  of  Jesus ;  the  Synoptics 
do  not  give  the  speculations  of  Paul ;  while  the  Gospel  of 
John,  written  under  Grecian  influence,  presents  a  differ- 
ent view  of  Jesus  from  the  more  Hebraic  one  of  the 
Synoptics. 

Though  it  would  be  unjust  to  Orthodoxy  to  say  that 
none  of  its  doctrines  can  be  supported  by  Biblical  texts, 
and  that  some  of  them  are  not  natural  growths  on  Bib- 
lical soil,  yet  we  believe  that  the  Bible,  taken  without  the 
constraint  of  this  theory  of  infallibility,  and  interpreted 
on  the  same  principles  on  which  we  should  determine  the 
meaning  of  a  Greek  or  Latin  classical  author,  does  not 
yield  the  Orthodox  system. 

There  is  another  branch  of  study  which  greatly  helps 
in  decidinor  this  question,  and  that  is  the  department  of 
Church  History.  When  we  interrogate  it,  we  find  that 
Orthodoxy,  as  a  system,  has  not  sprung  full-formed  from 
the  Bible,  but  that  it  is  of  much  later  origin  and  growth. 
An  effectual  refutation  of  many  of   its  errors  is  found 


MAJORITY    OF   MANKIND.  143 

when  we  trace  them  back  to  their  inception,  and  note  the 
influences  that  have  shaped  them,  and  the  false  premises 
on  which  they  are  based.  The  doctrines  of  the  Trinity, 
the  deity  of  Jesus,  total  depravity,  the  atonement,  endless 
])unishment,  the  infallibility  of  the  Bible,  —  in  short,  the 
very  doctrines  which  Orthodoxy  still  regards  as  essential, 
—  are  all  subjects  of  post-Biblical  growth  and  develop- 
ment. In  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  for  in- 
stance, supposed  by  Orthodoxy  to  be  fundamental,  there 
is  not  one  passage  in  the  Bible,  from  Genesis  to  Revela- 
tion, which  can  be  imagined  to  be  a  statement  of  it ;  which 
even  sounds  like  saying  "in  the  unity  of  the  Godhead 
there  are  three  persons,  the  same  in  substance,  equal  in 
power  and  glory."  Not  only  is  there  no  clear  passage  in 
which  any  writer  of  the  New  Testament,  speaking  in  his 
own  name,  has  called  Jesus  Christ  God,  in  any  sense,  but 
on  the  contrary,  he  is  everywhere  as  clearly  distinguished 
from  the  "One  God,  the  Father,"  as  a  distinct  person  or 
being,  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  words  person  or 
being,  as  Peter  is  from  John.  He  is  everywhere  repre- 
sented, not  as  "  equal  in  power  and  glory"  to  God,  but  as 
subordinate  to  him  and  dependent  upon  him.  If  Jesus 
Christ  were  to  return  to  the  earth  to-day  we  believe  he 
would  be  profoundly  surprised  at  the  Christianity  which 
has  been  and  still  is  taught  in  his  name.  His  own  disci- 
ples misunderstood  him  ;  and  humanity  has  repeated, 
perpetuated,  and  multiplied  their  mistakes.  The  Bible 
has  been  a  quarry  to  which  men  could  go  and,  when- 
ever they  needed,  find  a  text  as  the  corner-stone  for  some 
doctrinal  theory.  The  stones  thus  wrenched  from  the 
original  strata  have  been  shaped  and  fashioned  in  church- 
councils,  synods,  presbyteries,  and  in  the  brains  of  profes- 
sional theologians.  From  age  to  age  the  design  of  the 
edifice  has  been  changed,  and  redecorated  and  elaborated. 
John  Calvin  was  the  master  architect  who  rebuilt  the 
system,  and  secured  for  it  his  name.     When  we  compare 


144  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

the  Calvinistic  system  with  the  Christian  one,  they  differ 
as  much  as  a  mediaeval  cathedral  differs  from  the  bound- 
less sky  under  whose  well-beloved  benediction  Jesus 
delighted  to  preach.  Calvinism  can  only  accommodate 
a  few ;  Christianity  is  large  enough  for  all. 

Whatever  appeals  may  be  made  to  the  strong  Oriental 
imagery  of  special  texts  of  the  New  Testament,  in  which 
the  idea  of  retribution  is  figured,  the  number  of  Christians 
is  increasing  who  refuse  to  believe  that  he  who  preached 
the  beatitudes,  and  told  the  parables  of  the  Good  Samari- 
tan, the  Prodigal  Son,  and  the  Ninety  and  Nine,  ever 
meant  to  teach  either  the  damnation  of  the  majority  or 
the  endless  misery  of  a  single  human  soul. 

The  assumption  of  the  infallibility  of  the  Bible,  and 
the  kindred  assumption  of  the  infallibility  of  the  Pope, 
both  arose  from  the  endeavor  to  preserve  the  authority  of 
the  Church.  One  assumption  is  as  insupportable  as  the 
other,  and  we  do  not  know  which  is  the  more  mischievous. 
Humanity  will  have  nothing  to  lose,  but  everything  to 
gain,  from  abandoning  them. 

The  Bible  has  been  the  test  of  Truth;  now  Truth  must 
be  the  test  of  the  Bible.  All  that  is  just,  pure,  and  true 
in  that  book,  all  that  helps  and  comforts,  all  that  is  in- 
spired because  it  inspires,  will  be  gratefully  preserved. 
Its  errors,  or  the  errors  which  have  been  built  upon  it,  will 
be  gently  and  firmly  laid  aside.  As  Dr.  Ellis  has  truly 
said:  "That  the  sanctities  of  that  book  may  be  retained, 
the  assumptions  and  superstitions  associated  with  it  must 
be  surrendered."  ^ 

The  removal  of  false  notions  concerning  the  absolute 
authority  of  the  Bible  will  lead  to  a  more  sympathetic 
attitude  toward  the  sacred  literature  of  other  peoples,  and 
the  rehgions  which  they  represent.  The  damnation  of  the 
heathen  has  been  frequently  defended  on  account  of  their 
idolatry.     Even  such  a  serious  writer  as  Dr.  Shedd,  in  his 

1  Christian  Register,  Nov.  16,  1882. 


MAJORITY    OF    MANKIND.  145 

sermon  on  "  The  Guilt  of  the  Pagan,"  presents  this  as  one 
charge  in  the  indictment.  Yet  the  conception  of  God 
which  the  heathen  often  entertain  is  morally  superior  to 
that  of  the  God  who  is  preached  to  them  in  the  name 
of  Christianity.  The  idolatry  of  the  heathen,  instead  of 
establishing  their  guilt,  is  their  vindication.  It  is  but 
another  proof  of  the  presence  and  aspiration  of  the 
religious  sentiment.  The  heathen  who  bows  down  to 
wood  and  stone  is  more  evidently  human,  more  evidently 
religious,  than  if  he  bowed  to  nothing. 

This  more  sympathetic  attitude  towards  other  religions, 
instead  of  diminishing  our  consciousness  of  the  divine  light 
which  shines  upon  the  pages  of  the  Hebrew-Christian 
Bible,  will  help  us  to  a  recognition  of  the  breadth, 
fulness,  and  perpetuity  of  the  divine  manifestation. 
There  is  an  older  and  a  larger  Bible,  whose  Genesis  was 
"in  the  beginning"  and  whose  Revelation  has  not  closed. 
Not  only  unto  us,  but  unto  all  the  nations,  hath  the  Divine 
Word  spoken.  God  hath  never  left  himself  without  wit- 
ness, either  in  the  works  of  nature  or  in  the  heart  of 
man. 

We  have  quoted  from  Channing  to  show  that  this 
rational  and  ethical  test  of  the  Bible  was  defended  by  his 
illustrious  pen.  We  cannot  better  close  this  chapter  than 
by  reaffirming  in  his  own  words,  from  that  admirable  essay 
on  "  God  Revealed  in  the  Universe  and  in  Humanity," 
our  conviction  that  the  revelation  of  God  is  not  confined 
to  the  Christian  Bible,  but  that  it  is  as  large  as  humanity, 
as  boundless  as  the  universe :  — 

"  Divine  Wisdom  is  not  shut  up  in  anyone  book.  .  .  .  We 
cannot  find  language  to  express  the  worth  of  the  illumination 
thus  given  through  Jesus  Christ.  But  we  shall  err  greatly  if 
we  imagine  that  his  gospel  is  the  only  light,  that  every  ray  comes 
to  us  from  a  single  book,  that  no  splendors  issue  from  God's 
works  and  providence,  that  we  have  no  teacher  in  religion  but 
the  few  pages  bound  up  in  our  Bible.     Jesus  Christ  came,  not 

10 


146  THE    DOOM    OF    THE 

only  to  give  us  his  peculiar  teaching,  but  to  introduce  us  to  the 
imperishable  lessons  which  God  forever  furnishes  in  our  own 
and  all  human  experience,  and  in  the  laws  and  movements  of 
the  universe. 

2.    A  Different  Estimate  of  Human  Nature. 

Remove  the  stumbling-block  of  Biblical  infallibility, 
and  theology  will  sooner  or  later  adjust  itself  to  the  facts 
of  science  and  the  demands  of  ethics.  A  more  modern 
view  of  the  nature  and  origin  of  man  will  follow.  If  the 
Bible  be  the  architectural  plan,  the  supposed  fall  of  Adam 
is  the  corner-stone  on  which  the  Orthodox  system  rests. 
Take  that  away,  and  the  logical  superstructure  falls.  The 
order  for  its  removal  has  already  been  passed,  and  is 
gradually  being  executed.  This  Semitic  legend  of  the 
introduction  of  sin  into  the  world  has  exercised  an  im- 
mense influence  upon  Cliristian  theology.  Its  influence 
has  been  exerted,  not  in  what  it  teaches  so  much  as  in 
what  men  have  taught  from  it, —  namely,  that  by  this  sin 
our  first  parents  "fell  from  their  original  righteousness 
and  communion  with  God,  and  so  became  dead  in  sin, 
and  wholly  defiled  in  all  the  faculties  and  parts  of  soul  and 
body;  they  being  the  root  of  all  mankind,  the  guilt  of 
this  sin  was  imputed,  and  the  same  death  in  sin  and  cor- 
ru))ted  nature  conveyed  to  all  their  posterity  descending 
from  them  by  ordinary  generation.  P'rom  this  original 
corruption,  whereby  we  are  utterly  indisposed,  disabled, 
and  made  opposite  to  all  good,  and  wholly  inclined  to  all 
evil,  do  proceed  all  actual  transgressions."  ^ 

The  additions  which  have  been  made  to  the  original 
legend  may  be  seen  by  comparing  this  version  of  the 
Westminster  Confession  with  the  version  in  Genesis. 

It  is  this  sin  of  Adam  which  calls  down  the  wrath  of 
God,  opens  the  pit  of  an  endless  hell,  and  requires  an 
infinite  atonement. 

1  Westminster  Confession,  VI.  ii.-iv. 


MAJORITY   OF   MANKIND.  147 

"Wlien,  however,  we  learn  that  the  story  is  simply  a 
legend^  and  not  tlie  record  of  a  fact,  the  poetry  reinains, 
but  the  horrible  consequences  disappear.  Viewed  through 
the  light  of  science,  and  the  revelations  of  history  and 
philosophy,  human  nature  is  seen  to  be  not  ruined,  but 
incomplete.  Humanity  has  not  hopelessly  fallen ;  it  has 
ascended  by  slow  and  toilsome  climbing  the  lofty  spiral 
of  history.  It  has  suffered  checks  and,  in  different 
branches,  retrogression ;  but  age  by  age  its  progress  has 
been  upward  and  onward  toward  the  attainment  of  ideals 
which  God  has  not  failed  to  reveal  to  it.  No  curse  of 
God  flows  in  the  blood  of  humanity,  for  "  in  him  we  live 
and  move  and  have  our  being,"  "  for  we  also  are  his 
offspring." 

This  rational  view  of  the  origin  of  human  nature  and 
its  education  and  development  lights  up  the  whole  track 
of  history,  displays  the  method  of  God  in  the  education 
of  the  race,  and,  instead  of  hanging  a  dnrk  pall  over  the 
unknown  future,  paints  the  prospect  before  us  in  cheerful 
colors  of  hope  and  trust. 

There  is  a  divine  element  in  human  nature,  revealing  to 
us  our  kinship  with  the  Eternal.  There  are  instincts, 
aspirations,  and  affections  in  the  soul,  which  prophesy 
growth  and  development.  It  may  be  through  the  disci- 
pline of  pain,  through  unremitting  strugcrle  ;  but  it  shall 
climb  on  the  trellis  which  God  has  raised  for  it,  and  bear 
fruit  in  future  ages  on  a  higher  plane.  Onr  faith  in  the 
destiny  of  humanity  is  planted  deepjly  in  our  confidence 
in  God. 

3.    A  Nobler  View  of  God, 

Our  thought  of  God  should  ever  be  the  product  of  our 
liighest  and  best  ideals.  Under  Calvinism  this  is  not  ])os- 
sible.  God  is  surrounded  by  clouds  and  darkness;  his 
moral  glory  is  eclipsed.  A  more  just  conception  of  the 
character  of  God  and  his  relation  to  humanity  will  require 


148  THE    DOOM   OF    THE 

a  complete  revision  of  the  traditional  theology.  We  can- 
not be  satisfied  with  any  representation  of  God  which 
makes  him  less  just,  true,  and  good  than  humanity.  As 
Dr.  Ellis ^  truly  says:  '' Tliere  cannot  be  two  kinds  of 
justice,  for  God  and  man,  any  more  than  there  can  be 
two  kinds  of  mathematics,  for  measuring  the  fields  of  the 
earth  and  the  spaces  of  the  sky."  Our  thought  of  God  at 
best  is  incomplete  and  imperfect.  It  is  bounded  by  the 
limitations  of  our  nature.  It  must  be  to  a  great  degree 
anthropomorphic.  The  frames  in  which  we  picture  God 
as  ruler,  governor,  creator,  judge,  cannot  bound  his  in- 
finitude. A  lai-ger  and  more  grateful  conception  is  that 
of  the  Divine  Fatherhood  or  Motherhood.  It  is  meta- 
phoric,  limited,  incomplete,  as  any  image  of  human  rela- 
tions must  be  when  reflected  upon  the  truth,  beauty,  and 
goodness  of  the  Eternal  Perfection  ;  but  it  expresses  more 
fully  than  political  or  judicial  metaphors  the  nature  of 
our  relations  to  God.  We  are  born  of  the  life  of  God ; 
nurtured  and  sustained  by  his  care,  educated  by  his  laws, 
corrected  by  his  discipline,  guided  by  his  providence,  and 
redeemed  by  his  love.  It  was  under  the  image  of  the 
fatherhood  of  God  that  Jesus  conveyed  his  most  touching 
lessons  of  the  divine  attitude  toward  humanity.  How 
beautifully  that  love  is  pictured  in  the  parable  of  the 
Prodigal  Son  !  The  father  is  not  vindictive,  cruel,  or  un- 
forgivininr ;  but  when  tlie  son  "  was  yet  a  great  way  off, 
his  father  saw  him,  and  had  compassion,  and  ran  and  fell 
on  his  neck  and  kissed  him."  If  historical  Christianity 
may  be  charged  with  presenting  conceptions  of  God  that 
are  nnw^orthy  to  be  perpetuated,  we  must  also  gratefully 
remember  that  it  has  likewise  bequeathed  to  us  tender 
parables  of  the  divine  mercy  and  goodness,  which  shall 
forever  abide  as  proofs  of  the  "light  of  the  knowledge 
of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ."  The 
parables  of  the  Prodigal  Son  and  the  Ninety  and  Mne 

1  Christian  Register,  Nov.  16,  1882. 


MAJORITY    OF    MANKIND.  149 

are  far  better  pictures  of  the  divine  relations  to  the  way- 
ward and  the  "  lost "  than  any  of  the  cold,  hard,  creedal 
statements  of  Evangelical  theology.  So  long  as  he  sins, 
the  Prodigal  suffers ;  but  when,  in  penitence  and  self-abne- 
gation, he  determines  to  return  to  his  father's  house,  he  is 
received  with  open  arms,  and  the  fatted  calf  is  killed  for 
the  feast.  No  sacrificial  offering,  no  atonement^  in  the 
ordinary  theological  sense,  is  required  of  the  son  to  pro- 
pitiate the  father.  The  wayward  boy  has  suffered  the 
penalty  of  the  laws  he  has  violated.  The  father's  joy  is 
that  the  son  has  henceforth  determined  to  obey  them. 

This  simple  parable  of  Jesus  exposes  what  we  believe 
to  be  a  cardinal  error  in  the  Orthodox  system,  —  namely, 
the  presumed  necessity  of  a  belief  in  the  atonement  of 
Jesus  as  a  condition  of  salvation.  Some  of  the  moral 
objections  to  this  view  we  have  already  pointed  out.  It 
abrogates  the  divine  law  instead  of  honoring  it.  It  teaches 
that  the  actual  consequences  of  sin  may  be  averted  by  a 
simple  belief  in  the  merits  of  the  blood  of  Jesus.  It 
confers  a  righteousness  which  is  imputative,  not  real.  It 
presumes  that  God  needs  to  be  reconciled  to  the  sinner,  as 
well  as  the  sinner  to  God. 

The  difficulties  which  the  common  view  of  the  atone- 
ment presents  disappear  under  a  higher,  broader,  and 
more  rational  conception  of  divine  and  human  nature. 
Humnn  nature  is  not  at  enmity  with  God,  and  God  is  not 
at  enmity  with  human  nature.  God  is  present  in  humanity 
and  in  the  world,  '^  reconciling  the  world  to  himself."  The 
natural  and  the  spiritual  world  are  not  in  conflict.  The 
laws  of  nature  are  manifestations  of  the  life  of  God. 
The  will  of  God  is  not  capricious  or  arbitrary ;  it  is  simply 
the  divine  righteousness  fulfilling  itself.  There  is  no 
divine  law,  conceived  in  its  universal  aspects,  but  has  some 
element  of  good  in  it.  The  salvation  of  humanity  is  found 
in  reconciliation  to  the  eternal  truth,  beauty,  and  good- 
ness,—  in  the  adjustment  of  the  human  will  to  that  which 


150  THE    DOOM    OP    THE 

is  divine.  The  end  of  salvation  is  not  release  from  an 
arbitrary  and  unending  punishment,  but  the  attainment 
of  perfection  in  character.  No  higher  ideal  has  ever  been 
raised  for  humanity  than  the  ideal  of  Jesus :  "  Be  ye  per- 
fect, even  as  your  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect." 
t 

TRIUMPH   OF    THE    GOOD. 

Whatever  figure  we  may  choose  in  which  to  picture  the 
divine  character,  none  can  be  satisfactory  to-day  which 
does  not  represent  God  as  absolute  righteousness.  It  is 
our  trust  in  the  righteousness  of  God,  joined  to  an  equal 
trust  in  his  infinite  goodness  and  infinite  power,  which 
justifies  and  even  compels  our  faith  in  the  final  triumph 
of  the  good.  Evil  is  but  a  relative  term ;  it  cannot  be  a 
permanent  element  in  the  universe. 

Our  trust  in  God's  goodness  does  not  extinguish  the 
idea  of  retribution  in  the  next  life ;  it  may  even  require 
us  to  believe  in  it ;  since  retribution  is  but  a  fulfilment  of 
the  divine  law,  and  a  part  of  the  process  by  which  hu- 
manity is  purified  and  redeemed.  Reason  and  faith  alike 
forbid  us  to  suppose  that  the  sphere  of  human  education, 
and  the  rewards  and  punishments  which  belong  to  it,  is 
confined  to  this  life.  God  is  not  hampered  by  time-limits 
in  the  development  of  a  human  soul. 

"We  cannot  argue,"  ^  says  Channing,  "that  a  being  is 
not  destined  for  a  good,  because  he  does  not  instantly 
attain  it.  We  begin  as  children,  and  are  yet  created  for 
maturity.  So  we  begin  life  imperfect  in  our  intellectual 
and  moral  powers,  and  yet  are  destined  to  wisdom  and 
virtue.  We  are  to  read  God's  End  in  our  inherent  tend- 
encies, not  in  our  first  attainments."  If  God  is  able  in  the 
ages  to  come  to  redeem  humanity  from  the  power  of  sin, 
faith  in  his  infinite  mercy  and  goodness  requires  us  to 
believe  that  he  will  do  it.     Calvinists  have  tried  to  prove 

*  Trust  in  the  Living  God. 


MAJORITY    OF    MANKIND.  151 

the  glory  of  God  in  the  damnation  of  the  vast  majority 
of  the  race;  but  how  much  more  glorious  do  his  justice 
and  goodness  appear  in  their  redemption.  If  Edwards 
be  true,  there  is  joy  in  heaven  over  those  that  are  lost ;  if 
Jesus  be  true,  the  joy  in  heaven  is  over  those  that  are 
saved.  The  Divine  Shepherd  cannot  allow  a  single  one 
of  his  flock  to  perish.  The  lambs  he  carries  in  his 
bosom,  and  every  one  of  his  sheep  he  knoweth  by  name. 
There  are  ninety  and  nine  in  the  fold ;  they  have  all  been 
gathered  in  but  one  ;  yet  the  tender  compassion  of  the 
Good  Shepherd  yearns  with  infinite  pity  over  the  sheep 
that  is  lost.  It  is  the  Good  Shepherd  himself  who  goes 
forth  to  seek  it.  No  shade  of  the  forest,  no  depth  of 
the  valley,  no  cavernous  darkness,  can  conceal  the  lost 
and  wandering  one  from  the  Shepherd's  eye.  The  lost  is 
found,  and,  gently  folded  in  the  Shepherd's  arms,  is  brought 
to  the  fold.  So  a  lost  and  wayward  soul  cannot  wander  in 
any  part  of  the  universe,  cannot  reach  any  depth  of  sin, 
where  the  love  of  God  cannot  find  and  save  it.  Not  until 
every  soul  of  the  innumerable  flock  shall  have  been  gath- 
ered into  the  divine  fold  will  he  see  of  the  travail  of  his 
soul  and  be  satisfied. 


INDEX. 


Page 
Abbot,  Ezra  .^    ...  23,  68,  126 

A.  B.  C.  F.  M 53,  65 

Allen,  James 19 

Anderson,  Rufus 60 

Andover  Creed 25 

Apostles'  Creed 26 

Arminians 30,  79,  125 

Auburn  Declaration     ....    116 
Augsburg  Confession      26,  27,  28,  98 

Augustine,  St 6,  26,  136 

Aquinas,  Thomas 6 

Barnes,  Albert   54,  72,  73,  95,  99, 100, 
101,  102,  104 

Baxter,  Richard 18,  67 

Beach,  John 86,  87 

Bellows,  H.  W 68 

Bethune,  George  W 60 

Boardman,  S.  W.    .    .     .      100,  101 

Boothroyd 16 

Boston  Confession  .     .  44,  45,  47,  67 
Boston  Sunday  Herald     ...      91 

Boston,  Thomas 86 

Bowman,  Francis 60 

Bremen  Theologians  at  Dort     .      31 

Brooke,  Stopford,  A 128 

Burkitt,  William 15 

Burnet,  Bishop 39 

Butler,  Bishop 138 

Calvin,  John    4,  9, 10, 11,  18,  29,  30, 
37,  67,  71,  97,  143 

Cambridge  Synod 44 

Canons  of  Dort 41 

Central  Christian  Advocate  .     .      85 

Channing,  William  Ellery    .  97,  102, 

114, 116, 138,  139, 140,  141, 145, 150 

Chapin,  E.  H 68 

Chrysostom,  St 6,  71 

Church  of  England      .     .     .     29,  39 

Clarke,  Adam 15 

Cleaveland,  Elisha  L 93 

Colenso,  Bishop       .      66,  88,  95,  105 
Cook,  Joseph      ...     92,  111,  112 


Page 
Creed  of  the  Park  St.  Church  46, 47 
Cumberland  Presbyt'n  Church 

of  the  United  States     ...      38 
Curio,  C.  S 68,  80 

Davidson,  Samuel 136 

Dean,  John  Ward 37 

Dickinson,  Jonathan   ....      86 

Diodati 13 

Doddridge 16,  71 

"  Doleful  State  of  the  Damned  "    19 

Donne 125 

Dort,  Synod  of  .      30,  31,  41,  67,  69 

Du-MouUn,  Lewis 8 

Duryee,  William  Rankin  .     100,  103, 
104, 105, 108, 109,  124,  125 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  the  elder    19,  86, 
105,  106,  107,  116,  125,  126,  151 

Eisenmenger 11 

Ellis,  George  E.       133,  135,  144,  148 

Emmons,  Nathanael    .   20,  21,  50,  51, 

69,  74, 105,  116,  125 

Episcopius 30 

Estius 13 

Examiner,  The 70 

Fairchild,  James  H 63 

Farrar,  Canon  5,  7,  12,  68,  89,  98 
Flavel 18 

Gladden,  Washington  ...  91 
Goodwin,  E.  P.  .  63,  64,  92,  111 
Goulbum,  Dean  .  .  .  .  17,  71 
"Grand  Motive  to  Missionary 

Effort,  The  " 65 

Gregory  the  Great 6 

Hall,  Gordon 57,  102 

Henry,  Matthew     ....     14,  67 

Hervey,  William 58 

Heubner 16 

Hodge,  A.  A.  .  .  54,  55, 102, 123 
Hodge,  Charles  .  28,  29,  69,  99,  102 
Hopkins,  Mark       ....      59,  92 


154 


IXDEX. 


Page 
Independent,  The  ....  91,  112 
Irish  Articles  of  Keligion      .     .      40 

Jenks,  Francis 38 

Jerome 136 

Kirk,  E.  N 62,  93 

Krauth.C.  P.  .  .  .  28,  29,  31,32 
Krotel,  G.  F. 28 

Lambeth  Articles,  The  ...  40 
Lapide,  Cornelius  A.    .    .     .     .        7 

Luther 27,  28, 137 

Lutheran  Church 28 

Lyon,  Mary 58 

Mallalieu,  W.  F 84 

Marckius 31 

Mather.  Cotton 19,  38 

Melanchthon 27,  28 

Miller,  Samuel 77 

Molinaeus 31 

Momerie,  Dr 108 

Moody,  Joshua 19 

Moody,  S 19 

Morris,  E.  D 9 

Murraj'^,  John 68 

New  School  Presbyterians  .  .  115 
North  British  Review  ...  66 
Norton,  Andrews    .....      48 

Olshausen 17 

Origen 68 

Orthodox  Lady 69 

Orthodox  Minister 69 

Owen,  John  J. 16 

Oxenhara,  F.  N 5, 6,  89 

Park,  Edwards  A.  20,  50,  54,  69,  111 
Park  St.  Church,  Creed  of  46,  47, 48 
Patterson.  Robert  W.  .     .     .     61,  77 

Patton,  W.  W 60,  61,  90 

Personal  Experience  ....  78 
Plymouth  Declaration,  The  .  .  44 
Pond,  Enoch  .  21,  22,  52,  56, 69,  71 
Pond,  George  H.     .    .    .  62,  94,  105 

Presbyterian,  The 70 

Presbyterian  Board  .  .  .  129,  130 
Princeton  Review 55 


Pape 
Pusey,  Edward  B.  ...  5,  89 
Pyle,  Thomas 87 

Recupito,  Giulio  Cesare   ...        7 
Reformed    (Dutch)   Church   in 
America 41 

Savoy  Declaration  ...  43,  45,  67 
Saxon  Visitation  Articles  ...  38 
Saybrook  Platform  ...  25, 44 
Schaff,  Philip  28,  29,  31,  74,  95, 100, 
109,  114,  116 
Scotch  Confession  of  Faith    .     .       40 

Scougal,  Henry 74 

Shedd,  W.  G.  T.     .    3,  4,  53,  62,  71, 

95,  144 

Skinner,  Thomas  H.    59, 101, 102, 105 

Smyth,  Egbert Ill 

Sm3'th,  Newman Ill 

Spring,  Gardiner 76 

Spurgeon,  Charles  H 121 

Swing,  David 122 

Swiss  Theologians  at  Dort    .     •      30 

Thirty-Nine  Articles,  The    25,  39,  41 
Townsend,  Jonathan    ....      18 

Treat,  S.  B 54 

Twisse,  William      ....     33,  37 
Tyler,  M.  C 37 

Weiss,  Bemhard 23 

Welwood,  Andrew  .     .   105,  107,  108 
Wesley,  Charles      80,  83,  84,  86,  126 

Wesley,  John 85 

Westminster  Assembly  of   Di- 
vines       14,  33,  69 

Westminster  Confession  .  25,  31,  32, 

33,  37,  38,  42,  43,  44,  45,  46,  67,  90, 

98,  114,  146 

Westminster  Larger  Catechism       12, 

42,  43,  118,  122 

Whedon,  D.D 119 

Wiggles  worth,  Michael        33,  37,  86 

Wight,  J.  K 55 

Willard,  Samuel 19 

Winslow,  Myron &8 

Withrow,  J.  L.    4,  25,  26,  38, 49, 100 
Wordsworth,  Bishop    ....      17 

Zerneke 27 

Zurich  Consensus 30 


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